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FACTS  OF  IRISH  HISTORY 

AND 

ENGLISH  PROPAGANDA 


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V  V *' 


"  Ignorance  of  Irish  History  is  the  greatest 
impediment  to  our  dignity." — O'Halleran. 


By  PATRICK  J.  LALLY 


14 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I  „  Page  5 

Why  England  Went  to  Ireland;  How  They  Ridiculed  the  Irish; 
How  They  Declared  It  no  Crime  to  Kill  or  Rob  an  Irishman; 
Two  Concrete  Cases;   The  Statutes  of  Kilkenny. 

CHAPTER  II  Page    9 

Massacres;  Massacre  of  Seventy  Prisoners;  Strongbow's  At- 
tempt; Massacres  by:  The  Duke  of  Ormond,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
Elizabeth,  Coote  Clifford,  Swanley  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick;  Mas- 
sacres of:  Mullaghimast,  Island  Magee,  The  Fitzgeralds,  Gibbets  Rath; 
Quotations  from  :   Begbie,  Smiles,  Du  Boies,  Mrs.  Green,  Hollinshed. 

CHAPTER  III  Page  14 

Confiscations,  Exterminations  and  Famine;  Confiscations  by: 
Strongbow,  Edw.  Third,  Henry  Eighth,  Elizabeth,  Cromwell;  Quota- 
tion from  Arthur  Young;  Short  Story  of  the  Famine  and  Know- 
Nothing  Propaganda. 

CHAPTER  IV  Page  18 

The  Reformation;  How  Ireland  was  Persecuted;  Price  Placed  on 
the  Heads  of  Priests,  Monks,  Schoolteachers,  Bards  and  Wolves; 
Methods  of  Priest  Hunting — Various  Forms  of  Torture;  Bishops 
Tortured  for  Their  Faith;  Story  of  Father  Enright;  Quotations 
From:    Milner,  Mitchel,  Montesquien,  Godkin. 

CHAPTER  V  Page  23 

How  Ireland  Fought  for  Her  Freedom  in  the  Field  of  Battle  and 
Legislative  Halls;  Continual  War  From  1169  to  1691;  Tremen- 
dous Number  of  Victories  Won  by  Irish;  How  Ireland  Fought  for 
and  Won  Self  Determination;  How  England  Won  the  Union  by 
the  Worst  Bribery  and  Corruption  in  History;  Quotations  by: 
Gladstone,  Lecky,  Begbie. 

CHAPTER  VI  Page  30 

How  Irish  Industries  were  Crushed,  Including  Wool,  Cloth, 
Cattle,  Fisheries,  Glass,  Tobacco,  etc.;  Why  Ireland  Should  be 
an  Independent  Nation;  Date  of  Enactment  of  Various  Prohib- 
itory Laws;  How  Ireland's  Population  were  Scattered  and  How 
She  is  Overtaxed;  Quotations  from  Froude. 

CHAPTER  VII  Page  34 

What  Ireland  has  Contributed  to  the  present  War;  What  Ireland 
Has  Done  for  the  United  States;  Why  Irishmen  Should  Organize 
to  Meet  the  Propaganda  Aimed  at  Them;  Quotations  from  R.  L. 
and  Captain  McMahon;  How  England  Charged  Ireland  with 
Being  Pro-American  and  Carried  the  Irish  Prisoners  to  England 
to  Execute  Them;  How  President  Madison  Interfered  and  Saved 
the  Irish. 

CHAPTER  VIII  Page  42 

Propaganda;  How  England  Pensions  Her  Authors;  Names  of 
English  Writers  Who  Insulted  Ireland;  How  England  Easily 
Shapes  the  Literary  Policy  of  the  World;  A  Review  of  the  Vari- 
ous Forms  of  Propaganda;  Anonymous  Writers;  Brief  Reference 
to  cohalan  and  o'leary;  quotations  from  general  marshal 
and  Michael  McManus. 


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NOTE 

The  author  of  this  pamphlet  has  planned  to  publish  a  work  on  Irish 
history  as  soon  as  more  data  relative  to  the  war  can  be  procured.  By  group- 
ing together  many  important,  neglected  and  interesting  facts,  the  writer  thinks 
it  possible  to  treat  the  history  of  Ireland  in  about  a  five  hundred  page  book. 

From  this  contemplated  volume,  this  pamphlet  is  practically  taken. 
The  present  is  surely  the  most  opportune  time  to  call  attention  to  a  few  of  the 
salient  features  of  our  case,  because  of  the  painful  fact  that  heretofore  Eng- 
lish propaganda  has  made  Irish  subjects  of  any  kind  very  unpopular  in  the 
United  States. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  logical  conclusions,  we  must  lay  bare  the  relation- 
ship that  existed  between  England  and  Ireland.  We  must  show  how  the 
stream  was  polluted  at  its  very  source.  We  can  never  discuss  a  question 
fairly  by  scratching  its  surface;  we  must  lay  bare  the  root  of  the  whole  evil. 
This  the  writer  has  attempted  to  do  in  the  eight  brief  chapters  contained 
here. 

The  main  and  principal  claim  of  this  pamphlet  is  a  strict  adherence  to 
the  well  established  facts  of  European  and  American  history.  To  mislead 
purposely  or  make  false  statements  will  answer  no  useful  purpose;  therefore, 
whatever  demerits  it  possesses,  the  author  has  aimed  at  plain,  unvarnished, 
simple  truths. 

The  assertions  made  here  are  so  startling  that  the  writer  thought  it 
wise  to  re-enforce  his  charges  by  such  quotations  as  are  found  at  the  end  of 
each  chapter. 

If  this  little  pamphlet  succeeds  in  stirring  up  a  little  interest  in  the  noblest 
cause  that  tongue  or  pen  ever  fought,  he  will  feel  well  repaid  for  his  labor. 

Patrick  J.  Lally. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 


4137 


CHAPTER  I 

Tk>  discuss  any  subject  by  merely  scratching  its  surface  leads  to  noth- 
ing. England's  methods  are  abuse  and  misrepresentation.  To  arrive  at  a 
logical  conclusion  we  must  dig  deep  and  lay  bare  the  root  of  the  evil. 

The  Irish  question  is  a  very  simple  one.  England,  according  to  her 
own  reasons,  was  commissioned  by  an  English  pope  to  go  and  reform  the 
morals  of  the  Irish  people.  In  the  words  of  Hume,  "She  introduced  humanity 
and  justice  among  a  race  who  had  lived  previously  in  profound  barbarism." 

In  the  month  of  May,  1196,  on  the  Wexford  coast,  there  landed  a  small 
Norman  army.  They  were  so  badly  beaten  that  the  clergy  of  Ireland  ap- 
pealed to  Roderick  O'Connor,  then  King,  to  stay  his  hand.  A  conference 
was  called  and  a  meeting  held  at  the  Church  of  Ferns,  before  the  high  altar 
of  which  the  Normen  swore  that  they  would  go  back  home  as  soon  as  shipping 
could  be  procured.  Soon  reinforcements  arrived;  the  Normen  or  Saxons 
broke  their  treaty  by  remaining  and  they  are  there  yet. 

Henry  Second  soon  arrived,  his  hands  red  with  the  blood  of  St.  Thomas 
a  Beqket,  his  body  polluted  with  the  outrage  of  his  son's  betrothed  wife  and 
his  lire  of  shame  was  known  to  all.  His  wife  was  tied  up  in  chains,  his  son 
thrown  into  jail.  He  had  robbed  the  Church,  defied  the  Pope  and  boasted 
that  he  had  no  more  dread  of  excommunication  than  he  would  of  a  rotten 
egg.  He  later  passed  away,  cursing  the  day  upon  which  he  was  born  and 
the  children  he  left  behind  him,  without  the  last  rites  of  the  Church. 

He  sized  up  the  situation  and  diplomatically  decided  that  he  merely 
wished  to  be  recognized  as  Suzerain.  A  treaty  was  made,  known  as  the 
"Treaty  of  Windsor,"  and  was  properly  approved  of  by  Henry  and  Archbishop 
Duffy  in  behalf  of  Ireland.  This  treaty  was  promptly  broken,  as  was  also 
the  treaty  of  Limerick,  solemnly  subscribed  to.  England  is  the  worst  of- 
fender in  the  world  as  a  treaty  breaker,  to  which  truth  the  United  States 
and  France,  as  well  as  Ireland,  can  testify.  Not  only  has  England  broken 
her  treaties  with  impunity,  but  she  has  been  able  to  convince  the  world  that 
she  is  the  only  country  which  has  a  right  to  do  so. 

England  went  to  Ireland  primarily  for  conquest.  A  favorable  oppor- 
tunity was  found.  "  William  the  Conqueror  and  William  Rufus  openly  boasted 
that  they  would  conquer  Ireland.  Pearson,  the  English  historian,  is  author- 
ity for  this  statement.  England  carried  war  into  France,  Scotland  and 
Wales,  and  why  not  into  Ireland?  It  was  simply  a  question  of  opportunity. 
How  can  any  sane  person  think  that  conquest  was  not  England's  motive? 
And  yet  she  has  been  fairly  successful  in  confusing  the  world  on  that  subject. 


This  question  is  no  argument;  it  is  a  simple  statement  of  fact.  England 
felt  herself  to  be  strong  enough  and  through  her  insidious  diplomacy  she  had 
read  in  all  the  churches  of  Ireland  letters  purporting  to  have  come  from  the 
Pope,  calling  upon  the  people  of  Ireland  to  accept  Henry  in  the  interest  of 
religion  and  morality. 

The  main  question  is,  has  Ireland  gained  by  allowing  England  to  be- 
come her  master?  The  blindest  English  partisan  must  admit  that  English 
rule  is  a  curse  to  Ireland.  She  has  lost  all  and  gained  nothing.  Here  is 
where  English  intricate  diplomacy  shines.  England  has  gained  the  ear  of 
the  world  and  has  convinced  its  people  that  the  Irish  are  unable  to  govern 
themselves  and  that  they  will  allow  nobody  else  to  do  so. 

England  does  not  wish  to  appear  as  a  brutal  conqueror,  but  would  rather 
pose  as  a  benefactor,  the  leader  grand  of  civilization;  yet  there  has  not  been 
a  crime  committed  by  Germany  in  Belgium  or  France  that  England  has  not 
committed  a  worse  one  in  Ireland,  which  may  be  proved  by  incontrovertible 
facts. 

Ireland  contends  that  she  has  ever  been  misrepresented,  that  she  has 
never  been  given  a  square  deal.  Because  she  is  not  satisfied  with  slavery, 
England  contends  that  Ireland  would  not  be  satisfied  with  liberty.  Ireland 
says,  I  have  never  had  the  opportunity  to  govern  myself,  and  because  I  am 
indignant  with  slavery,  it  is  stupid  to  say  that  I  would  be  dissatisfied  with 
freedom.  Besides,  I  am  only  asking  what  belongs  to  me,  what  was  taken 
away  from  me  by  brute  force  and  superior  treachery. 

The  next  question  the  world  asks  is  why  did  not  Ireland  accept  English 
laws,  customs,  manners,  religion,  ideals,  etc.,  and  become  a  contented  limb 
of  the  great  British  Empire?  In  order  to  understand  this  question  thor- 
oughly, we  must  read  Irish  history,  follow  it  to  its  very  source  and  point  out 
how  England  has  ruled  her  by  a  process  of  extermination  and  confiscation 
unparalleled  in  the  world's  history.  Strangely  enough,  the  Tory  Englishmen 
keeps  himself  purposely  blind  on  the  Irish  question.  He  would  like  to  throw 
a  wet  blanket  of  obscurity  over  the  whole  scene.  The  next  best  thing  he  can 
do  is  to  abuse  the  Irish  and  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  in  order  to 
confuse  the  situation. 

The  English  made  all  kinds  of  fun  of  the  Irish.  They  ridiculed  their 
dress,  manners  and  speech.  To  illustrate:  John,  afterwards  King  of  England, 
was  sent  over  as  Lord  of  Ireland.  He  invited  a  number  of  the  leading  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Irish  nation  to  his  court  and  treated  them  with  the  ut- 
most contempt.  The  most  dangerous  thing  in  the  world  to  do  to  an  Irish- 
man is  to  ridicule  him.  John  commenced  the  fun  by  pulling  the  whiskers 
of  Prince  O'Brien,  who  promptly  left  the  court  and  in  a  very  practical  man- 
ner headed,  organized,  drilled  and  disciplined  an  army.  John,  as  the  cus- 
tom went,  started  on  a  triumphal  tour.  O'Brien  threw  his  army  against 
him  at  Ardfinnan,  Tipperary,  and  disastrously  defeated  him.     The  English 

6 


were  now  everywhere  defeated.  John  was  suddenly  recalled  in  disgrace  and 
the  Irish  were  temporarily  appeased. 

To  illustrate  the  contempt  the  English  had  for  the  Irish,  we  will  quote 
from  Froude,  who  unwittingly  bares  England's  methods.  "Before  experience 
it  would  have  been  equally  reasonable  to  expect  that  the  modern  Englishman 
would  adopt  the  habits  of  a  Hindu  or  a  Mohican  as  that  the  fiery  Knights  of 
Normandy  would  have  stooped  to  imitate  whom  they  despised  as  slaves." 

As  English  law  unfolded  itself  it  became  more  and  more  brutal.  Year 
by  year  she  tried  to  extend  her  conquests,  sometimes  partly  successful,  at 
other  times  disastrously  defeated.  Froude  informs  us*  that  in  the  year  1515, 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  her  invasion,  all  England  owned  was  a 
strip  of  one  thousand  square  miles,  or  one  thirty-second  part  of  Ireland. 
The  English  forced  the  Irish  outside  the  pale  of  the  law  and  declared  them 
everlasting  rebels  whom  it  was  honorable  to  kill,  rob,  murder  or  outrage. 
This  seems  incredible,  and  were  it  not  for  England's  own  state  papers,  it 
would  be  a  hard  task  to  convince  the  world  that  such  brutality  was  resorted  to. 

Sir  James  Davies,  Attorney  General  under  James  First,  and  author  of 
"Historical  Tracts,"  proved  a  hundred  different  times  that  it  was  no  crime 
to  kill  an  Irishman,  in  fact,  he  cheerfully  justifies  the  crime  and  recommends 
that  the  Irishman  be  robbed  for  his  own  sake.  We  will  here  introduce  two 
concrete  cases  as  proof  positive. 

In  the  year  1301  at  the  city  of  Drogheda,  Thomas  Le  Bottelier  brought 
suit  against  Robert  De  Almain  for  the  recovery  of  stolen  goods.  The  case 
was  surrounded  with  all  the  formality  and  solemnity  of  English  law.  De- 
Almain  did  not  deny  his  guilt.  His  plea  was  that  Le  Bottelier  was  an  Irish- 
man who  had  changed  his  name;  therefore,  he  was  not  bound  to  answer  the 
charge.  The  jury  was  sworn  and  retired  to  determine,  not  De  Almain's  in- 
nocence or  guilt,  but  Le  Bottelier's  nationality.  The  jury  found  that  Le- 
Bottelier  was  an  Irishman  who  had  changed  his  name;  therefore,  he  had  no 
standing  before  the  court.     The  case  was  therefore  dismissed. 

In  the  year  1311  at  Limerick,  one  Fitzrogers  was  tried  for  murdering  a 
man  named  De  Cantellon.  His  plea  was  that  De  Cantellon  was  an  Irish- 
man who  had  changed  his  name;  therefore,  he  was  not  bound  to  answer  the 
charge.  The  jury  retired  and  brought  in  a  verdict  that  De  Cantellon  was 
Irish  and  had  no  standing  before  the  Court. 

These  two  cases  will  give  a  fair  idea  of  English  law.  Year  by  year  the 
law  became  more  and  more  brutal,  the  two  races  becoming  more  and  more 
antagonistic  towards  each  other.  The  Irish  were  always  looked  upon  a 
slaves  and  they  in  turn  struck  back  hard  and  often.  In  order  to  thoroughly 
separate  and  prevent  any  possible  intercourse,  assimilation  or  amalgamation 
between  the  Irish  and  English,  Edward  Third  instructed  the  English  colony 
to  meet  at  Kilkenny  and  that  infamous  code  known  as  the  "Statutes  of  Kil- 
kenny" was  passed.     Search  the  history  of  legislative  assemblies  all  over  the 


civilized  world,  and  you  will  find  no  law  so  low,  base  and  brutal  as  the  Kil- 
kenny Statutes,  directed  as  they  were  against  a  race  which  then  knelt  at  the 
same  altar  as  themselves.  The  Statutes  of  Kilkenny  declared  it  a  capital 
crime  to  intermarry  with  the  Irish,  the  offender  to  be  shamefully  mutilated 
while  alive  and  his  property  confiscated.  It  was  declared  a  crime  to  speak 
the  Irish  language,  to  go  into  an  Irish  house  of  worship,  to  play  Ireland's 
^national  games,  to  be  controlled  by  Brehon  laws;  in  fact,  the  law  was  thor- 
ough and  covered  every  phase  of  relationship  that  would  be  likely  to  exist 
between  two  peoples. 

Why  should  England  look  upon  the  Irish  with  such  horror  and  contempt? 
Because  Ireland  refused  to  be  conquered.  She  gave  them  blow  for  blow. 
The  original  stream  was  thus  poisoned.  The  stream  has  grown  into  a  river 
and  as  it  has  flowed  onward,  it  has  increased  in  fury.  Each  crime  forced 
the  races  farther  and  farther  apart  until,  after  seven  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
England  is  no  farther  advanced  in  the  affections  of  the  Irish  than  she  was  that 
memorable  May  morning  in  the  year  1169  when  she  first  planted  her  foul 
footsteps  on  our  soil. 

Ireland,  so  renowned  for  its  sanctity,  missionary  zeal  and  great  institu- 
tions of  learning — Ireland,  the  only  country  in  the  world  that  Rome  could  not 
conquer,  that  accepted  Christianity  without  bloodshed,  that  became  the 
educator  of  Europe,  that  founded  the  Kingdom  of  Scotland,  that  defeated 
the  Saxons,  Picts  and  Welsh  and  finally  defeated  the  Danes,  now  fell  a  victim 
to  English  treachery  or  propaganda  work  and  allowed  them  to  get  a  foothold. 
Remember  this  one  fact — and  we  cannot  reiterate  it  too  often — that  in  the 
field  of  intricate  diplomacy,  treachery  or  propaganda  the  Irish  were  never  a 
match  for  the  English,  in  fact,  they  became  easy  victims  to  English  propa- 
ganda since  the  day  that  De  Burgo,  Henry's  agent  purporting  to  have  letters 
from  the  Pope,  proclaimed  in  all  the  Churches  that  Ireland,  under  penalty 
of  excommunication,  was  ordered  to  accept  Henry  and  the  English  as  their 
rulers. 

In  Ireland  it  was  always  Catholic  first  and  Ireland  afterwards,  while  in 
England  it  was  England  first,  last  and  all  the  time.  Then,  as  now,  they 
cared  no  more  about  excommunication  than  they  did  about  a  rotten  egg,  as 
Henry  declared.  Then  and  now  they  are  past  masters  in  the  art  of  propa- 
ganda. 


CHAPTER  II 

Massacres 

As  Germany's  crimes  in  Belgium  and  Northern  France  are  still  green  in 
our  memories,  and  as  they  have  stirred  the  world  as  it  was  never  stirred  be- 
fore, a  comparison  might  be  made  by  declaring  that  the  worst  crime  charged 
against  the  Germans  cannot  be  compared  in  atrocity  with  the  crimes  Eng- 
land has  actually  perpetrated  on  the  Irish  people  in  every  age  of  her  history, 
covering  the  long  period  of  seven  hundred  and  fifty  years.  This  startling 
charge  we  can  easily  prove,  not  alone  by  Irish,  but  even  by  English  and  other 
foreign  writers. 

Strongbow,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  shortly  after  landing  in  Ireland,  invited 
the  leading  men  within  his  reach  to  a  great  love  feast  or  banquet.  At  the 
appropriate  time,  he  gave  word  to  murder  them  all.  It  happened  that  a 
knight  named  Pendergast  carried  the  invitations  to  the  Irish,  their  leader 
being  the  Prince  of  Ossory.  At  the  thought  of  such  a  foiil  deed  his  noble 
nature  stirred,  and  springing  up,  with  a  solemn  threat  he  swore  by  the  cross 
on  the  hilt  of  his  sword  that  he  would  defend  them  with  his  life.  Suiting 
his  action  to  his  words,  he  led  the  party  from  the  hall  in  safety,  interposing 
himself  between  the  unarmed  Irish  and  their  murderous  enemies.  For  this 
noble  act,  he  has  been  eulogized  in  song  and  story  ever  since  and  is  known  in 
history  as  the  "faithful  Saxon."  Unfortunately  for  Ireland,  the  faithful 
Saxons  have  been  too  few. 

In  one  of  the  series  of  battles  fought,  at  Dublin  seventy  Irish  prisoners 
were  captured.  They  were  condemned  to  have  their  bones  broken  with 
hammers,  to  remain  stretched  on  the  ground  all  night,  and  while  yet  alive 
to  be  dragged  towards  a  steep  cliff  and  thrown  into  the  sea.  All  the  his- 
torians of  the  time  refer  to  this;  even  Cambrensis  and  C.  H.  Pearson,  the 
English  historians,  admit  that  "they  were  foully  murdered." 

This  method  became  England's  set  policy  whenever  she  wanted  to  de- 
prive Ireland  of  a  great  leader  or  leaders.  The  victim  was  reached  by  poison, 
or  by  inviting  him  to  a  meeting,  a  conference  or  a  banquet,  and  as  soon  as  he 
fell  into  English  hands,  his  life  was  forfeited.  Art  McMurrough,  Prince  of 
Leinster,  attended  a  banquet  tendered  to  him  by  the  Saxons.  He  was  warned 
by  a  friendly  bard,  and  pretending  that  he  had  forgotten  something,  he  strayed 
from  the  hall,  sprang  on  a  horse  and  escaped  to  safety.  He  solemnly  vowed 
he  would  never  again  talk  to  an  Englishman  except  across  a  stream  or  in 
some  other  secure  place.  And  yet,  with  all  his  precautions,  he  was  poisoned 
by  an  old  woman.  As  he  was  passing  by,  she  proffered  him  a  drink,  from 
which  he  died. 

9 


Shane  the  Proud  fought  as  a  hero  should,  and  when  all  his  resources 
were  exhausted,  he  threw  himself  on  the  mercy  of  the  Scots,  who,  at  the 
request  of  an  Englishman  named  Piers,  foully  cut  off  his  head.  The  head 
was  placed  over  Dublin  Castle,  and  a  popular  poem,  "Shane's  Head,"  com- 
memorates the  event. 

Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell,  Prince  of  Tyrconnel  was  invited  on  board  an 
English  ship  by  the  Deputy.  He  was  soon  lodged  in  Dublin  jail,  where  he 
suffered  tortures,  but  fortunately  escaped  through  the  aid  of  powerful  friends. 
Owen  Roe  O'Neill,  victor  of  Benburb,  was  killed  by  poison.  Even  the 
great  Hugh  O'Neill  was  invited  to  a  meeting  in  Dublin,  the  Deputy  having 
had  private  instructions  to  apprehend  him.  Fortunately  he  was  warned 
and  avoided  the  trap. 

After  every  massacre  the  lands  and  property  of  the  murdered  ones  were 
divided  among  the  murderers.  Perhaps  'tis  needless  to  say  that  that  was 
their  primary  motive.  The  Earl  of  Essex,  with  a  powerful  colony,  settled  on 
Shane  O'Neill's  confiscated  estates.  Constant  war  followed.  Brian  O'Neill 
invited  Essex  to  a  conference  and  banquet  at  his  castle  at  Clannaboy.  The 
Earl  accepted,  and  at  the  head  of  a  strong,  well-armed  party,  he  visited  the 
unsuspecting  Brian.  At  the  proper  time  the  Saxons  drew  their  secreted 
weapons,  sprang  upon  their  entertainers  and  murdered  them  to  a  man.  Brian 
and  his  wife  were  temporarily  spared  only  as  hostages,  and  were  murdered  as 
soon  as  Essex  had  escaped,  which  he  was  compelled  to  do  hurriedly  after  the 
massacre. 

Hugh  O'Connor,  King  of  Connaght,  was  offered  a  home  by  one  Muresco. 
He  accepted  and  was  promptly  murdered.     The  Fitzgeralds  were  all  mur- 
dered.    It  would  take  a  whole  volume  to  cover  their  sad  story.     One  sick 
boy  suffering  from  small  pox  was  carried  away  by  a  priest;  he  alone  escaped 
the  general  slaughter.     But  the  bloodhounds  were  promptly  on  his  trail. 
He  was  smuggled  into  the  O'Neill's  country,  next  to  the  McCarthy's,  and 
finally  he  was  smuggled  to  France.     England  promptly  demanded  him,  owing 
to  treaty  rights.     France  was  not  then  friendly  with  England  so  he  escaped 
to  Brussels.     Once  again  England  demanded  him,  but  Cardinal  Pole,  a  rela- 
tive of  Henry  Eighth,  succeeded  in  carrying  him  to  Rome,  where  he  was 
educated.     In  Queen  Mary's  time  he  was  finally  reinstated  in  his  possessions. 
Silken  Thomas  Fitzgerald  was  offered  pardon  by  Lord  Grey  if  he  would 
surrender.     He  did,  and  with  his  five  uncles  he  was  executed  at  Tyburn  on 
the  same  day.     Smerwick  on  the  Kerry  coast  was  defended  by  a  small  Span- 
ish force.     Upon  promise  of  quarter  they  surrendered,  when  the  knightly 
Raleigh  of  cloak  fame  had  them  all  murdered  in  cold  blood.     The  gentle 
poet  Spencer  defended  the  foul  deed,  and  Lord  Grey  himself  in  contempt, 
as  he  saw  them  all  stretched  out  on  the  sand,  declared,  "They  are  as  goodly 
personages  as  I  ever  saw." 

The  Duke  of  Ormond  boasted  that  "he  put  to  death  six  thousand  dis- 

10 


affected  persons,"  while  Froude  claims  "Munster  was  so  vigorously  laid  waste 
that  the  lowing  of  a  cow  or  the  sound  of  a  plow-boy's  whistle  was  not  to  be 
heard  from  Valentia  to  the  Rock  of  Cashel."  Hollinshed,  a  bitter  old  Eng- 
lish writer,  said,  "The  traveler  would  not  meet  any  man,  woman  or  child 
except  in  the  cities,"  and  Spencer  declared  with  crocodile  tears,  "A  stony 
heart  would  rue  the  same." 

MASSACRE  OF  MULLAGHMAST 

Sir  Francis  Cosby,  the  Queen's  representative  in  Leix  and  Ofally, 
invited  all  the  leaders  of  that  section  of  the  country  to  a  great  feast  at  the 
Fort  of  Mullaghmast.  All  the  influential  people  attended,  particularly  the 
O'Moore's,  to  the  number  of  four  hundred.  Cosby's  plan  was  to  get  them 
all  together  and  murder  them  in  one  general  massacre,  needless  to  say,  with  the 
consent  of  good  Queen  Bess.  They  were  all  in  the  midst  of  rejoicing  and 
good  fellowship  when  Cosby  admitted  his  armed  soldiers,  who  fell  upon  the 
unsuspecting  and  unarmed  guests  and  murdered  them  to  a  man.  This  foul 
crime  is  without  doubt  one  of  the  blackest  in  history,  yet  it  is  a  mere  inci- 
dent in  our  annals.  Since  the  day  Strongbow  first  attempted  to  murder 
the  Prince  of  Ossory  and  his  party,  until  the  present,  England's  favorite 
policy  was  massacre. 

Proofs  are  hardly  necessary,  yet  should  any  person  doubt  the  story, 
Leland,  as  well  as  other  English  historians,  substantiates  it.  Lord  Claren- 
don informs  us  that  Sir  Charles  Coote,  a  notorious  villain  of  the  Cromwell 
type,  plundered  and  burned  the  town  of  Clontarf  and  massacred  the  towns- 
people, men,  women  and  children,  and  "three  suckling  infants."  The  men, 
women  and  children  of  the  village  of  Bullock,  to  escape  the  soldiers,  set  out  to 
to  sea  in  boats.  They  were  pursued  and  overtaken  by  Col.  Clifford,  and  all 
thrown  into  the  sea  and  drowned.  Castlehaven,  a  contemporary  writer  of 
fame,  informs  us  that  Sir  Arthur  Loftus,  Governor  of  Naas,  marched  out 
with  a  party  of  horse,  and  being  joined  by  Ormond  from  Dublin,  "they  both 
killed  such  of  the  Irish  as  they  met."  The  people  retreated  for  shelter  to  a 
great  strait  of  furze  situated  on  a  hill.  This  was  surrounded,  set  on  fire  and 
any  who  tried  to  escape  were  driven  back  until  all  the  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren were  roasted  to  a  crisp.  Castlehaven  emphatically  states,  "I  saw  the 
bodies  and  the  furze  still  burning."  Throughout  the  whole  country  similar 
scenes  were  enacted. 

The  Massacre  of  Island  Magee,  County  Antrim,  has  been  immortalized 
by  Ethna  Carbery  in  a  passionate  song,  "Brian  Boy  Magee."  The  soldiery 
burst  into  the  island  at  night,  and  murdered  men,  women  and  children  in 
bed.  They  drove  the  remainder  before  them  at  the  point  of  bayonet  towards 
the  awful  Gobbins  Cliffs,  where  they  forced  them  over  to  a  fearful  death 
below. 

11 


In  1644  the  English  Parliament  ordered  no  quarter  to  Irish  troops  in 
Britain.  Captain  Swanley  seized  a  ship  bound  from  Galway  to  Bristol. 
Among  the  troops  he  found  seventy  Irish  soldiers,  whom  he  had  thrown  into 
the  sea.  For  this  manly  act  he  was  thanked  by  the  British  Parliament  and 
given  a  great  gold  chain  as  a  reward  of  merit.  When  the  Earl  of  Warwick 
captured  an  Irish  ship,  he  tied  the  Irish  sailors  back  to  back  and  threw  them 
into  the  sea,  according  to  Clarendon. 

Of  all  the  world  fiends,  however,  Cromwell  was  the  wickedest.  He 
went  through  Ireland  like  a  hyena,  rending  and  tearing,  and  stated  in  his 
correspondence,  "I  thought  it  not  right  or  good  to  restrain  off  the  soldiers 
from  the  right  to  pillage  nor  from  doing  execution  on  the  enemy."  "The 
enemy  were  about  three  thousand  strong.  I  believe  we  put  to  the  sword 
the  whole  number.  I  wish  that  all  honest  hearts  may  give  the  glory  of  this 
to  God  alone,  to  whom  indeed  the  praise  of  this  mercy  belongs."  Parlia- 
ment went  on  record  appointing  a  day  of  Thanksgiving  (October  2,  1649), 
approving  of  the  massacres  as  an  act  of  justice  to  the  murdered  ones  and 
mercy  to  others  who  should  be  warned  by  it. 

Cromwell's  sickening  slaughters  would  fill  many  volumes.  We  must 
pass  them  over  and  content  ourselves  with  citing  a  single  case  from  Arthur 
Wood,  an  Oxford  historian  whose  brother  served  as  an  officer  under  Crom- 
well. He  says,  "Each  of  the  assailants  would  take  up  a  child  and  use  it  as 
a  buckler  of  defence  to  keep  him  from  being  shot  or  brained.  After  they 
had  killed  all  in  the  Church,  they  went  into  the  vaults  underneath,  where 
all  the  choicest  of  women  and  ladies  had  hid  themselves.  One  of  these,  a 
most  handsome  virgin,  arrayed  in  costly  and  gorgeous  apparel,  knelt  down 
to  Wood  with  tears  and  prayers,  begging  for  life,  and  being  stricken  with  a 
profound  pity,  he  did  take  her  under  his  arm  for  protection.  But  a  soldier, 
perceiving  his  intention,  ran  his  sword  through  her." 

In  the  year  1798  the  Kildare  insurgents  to  the  number  of  about  three 
thousand,  opened  up  negotiations  with  General  Dundas  to  surrender.  Dundas 
promised  them  pardon  upon  surrendering  their  weapons  and  sent  General 
Welford  to  give  them  protection.  The  insurgents  assembled  at  "Gibbet 
Rath"  in  the  Curragh,  and  on  June  3rd  gave  up  their  arms.  They  were  then 
set  upon  by  Sir  James  Duff  and  Lord  Roden's  fencible  Calvary  and  mur- 
dered to  the  number  of  three  hundred  and  fifty;   the  remainder  escaped. 


"Men,  women  and  children  wherever  found  were  indiscriminately  put  to 
death.  The  soldiery  were  mad  for  blood.  Priests  were  murdered  at  the 
altar,  children  at  the  mother's  breast.  The  beauty  of  woman,  the  venerable- 
ness  of  age,  the  innocence  of  youth,  was  no  protection  against  these  sanguinary 
demons  in  human  form,"  says  Dr.  Smiles,  Scotch  Protestant. 

"Not  only  did  the  English  destroy  crops  and  drive  the  cattle  into  their 
own  camps  that  the  Irish  might  be  starved,  not  only  this,  but  they  deliber- 

12 


ately  and  with  cunning  purpose  made  a  great  slaughter  of  infants.  'Nits  will 
be  lice,'  was  the  laughing  murderous  and  devilish  justification  for  this  slaugh- 
ter of  babies.  The  steel  of  England's  might  ran  red  with  the  blood  of  Irish 
infancy.  'Nits  will  be  lice,'  cried  these  slaughtering  devils,  and  the  beautiful 
flower  of  Irish  childhood  was  crushed  into  the  bloody  ooze  of  a  land  that  was 
like  hell." — Harold  Begbie. 

"There  was  no  protection  for  any  soul — the  old,  the  sick,  infants,  women, 
scholars.  No  quarter  was  allowed,  no  faith  kept,  no  truce  given.  .  .  .  Poets 
and  historians  were  slaughtered  and  their  books  of  genealogies  burned." — 
Mrs.  Green,  English  historian's  wife. 

"The  slaughter  of  Irishmen  was  looked  upon  as  literally  the  slaughter 
of  wild  beasts." — Lecky,  Anti  Home  Ruler. 

"The  soldiers  were  so  eager  that  they  spared  neither  man,  woman  or 
child." — Hollinshed,  English  historian. 

The  following  is  from  Paul  DuBoies:  "In  the  Desmond  country,  when 
all  resistance  was  at  an  end,  the  soldiers  forced  the  people  into  old  barns, 
which  they  set  on  fire,  putting  to  the  sword  any  who  sought  to  escape.  Sol- 
diers were  seen  to  catch  children  on  the  points  of  their  swords,  making  them 
squirm  in  the  air  in  their  death  agony.  .  .  .  Women  were  found  hanged  from 
trees  with  the  children  of  their  bosoms  strangled  in  the  hair  of  their  mothers." 


13 


CHAPTER  III 

Confiscations,  Exterminations  and  Famine 

As  the  terms  are  practically  synonomous,  we  will  group  together  a  few 
cases  of  confiscation  and  the  accompanying  exterminations,  including  the 
great  Famine.  The  Romans  of  old,  by  a  brutal  application  of  power,  were 
able  to  have  a  few  free  men  control  a  great  mass  of  slaves.  One  well  armed, 
well  drilled  Roman  was  able  to  safely  control  five  ignorant  unarmed  slaves. 
England  in  a  like  manner  enslaved  the  Irish,  killing  off  or  banishnig  the  spir- 
ited ones,  and  she  felt  herself  strong  enough  to  control  them  in  the  proportion 
of  five  to  one  for  the  purpose,  of  course,  of  drawing  water  and  hauling  wood. 
In  the  first  place,  if  the  rich  lands  of  Ireland  were  not  held  out  as  a  prize  for 
the  adventurers,  they  never  would  have  gone  there. 

Strongbow  confiscated  a  large  portion  of  the  island  and  divided  it  among 
his  barons,  involving  a  continual  war,  as  will  be  shown  under  the  head  "Ire- 
land's Wars."  W.  Warburton,  English  historian,  informs  us  that  Edward 
Third  of  Kilkenny  Law  infamy,  "inherited  the  barbarous  and  iniquitous 
traditions  of  English  rule  in  Ireland.  He  declared  void  every  grant  of  land 
in  Ireland  and  made  new  grants  of  the  lands  thus  recovered  to  the  crown." 
Henry  Eighth  confiscated  all  the  lands  of  Ireland  by  creating  new  titles  and 
transferring  them  over  to  those  who  would  recognize  him  as  head  of  the 
Church.  Incidentally  he  robbed  the  churches  and  divided  the  spoils  between 
himself  and  his  followers.  James  First  confiscated  one-fourth  of  the  lands 
of  Ireland  and  planted  them  with  a  landed  aristocracy.  These  are  mainly 
the  Orangemen  of  to-day. 

Cromwell  confiscated  three-quarters  of  Ireland  and  portioned  it  out  to 
his  own  followers.  Queen  Elizabeth  confiscated  one-fourth  of  Ireland,  the 
whole  province  of  Munster,  and  mopped  it  up  as  cleanly  and  thoroughly  as 
Froude  informs  us.  Hollinshed  and  Spencer  make  similar  statements.  When 
Raleigh  murdered  the  Smerwick  prisoners,  he  confiscated  for  himself  six 
hundred  acres  of  the  best  land  in  Cork. 

To  sum  up  the  whole  mournful  story  of  confiscation,  Arthur  Young,  Eng- 
lish author,  in  his  "Tour  of  Ireland"  (1776),  declared,  twenty-one  million 
acres,  nineteen  twentieths  of  the  kingdom,  changed  hands  from  Catholic  to 
Protestant.  Each  confiscation  was  accompanied  by  extermination.  One 
was  the  logical  complement  of  the  other.  After  the  sad  close  of  the  King 
William  War,  Catholic  Ireland  was  torn  up  by  the  roots  and  scattered  all 
over  the  world.  Governor  Dungan  of  New  York  was  known  in  Ireland  as 
the  Earl  of  Limerick.     All  his  estates  were  confiscated  and  given  over  to  one 

14 


of  William's  generals.  To  crown  the  work  of  infamy,  every  industry  was 
closed  by  law,  which  will  be  treated  under  another  head. 

We  have  now  a  fair  idea  of  how  England  did  her  work  in  the  field  of  con- 
fiscation and  extermination.  The  saddest  of  all  was  the  great  famine  of 
'46-48.  Henry  Giles  once  declared  that  "the  story  of  Ireland  was  one  of 
blood  and  tears."  He  spoke  truly.  Sorrow  permeates  nearly  every  line  of 
her  history;  the  bright  spots  are  few  and  far  between.  Bloodstained,  tear- 
ful and  sorrowful  as  her  story  is,  the  great  famine  and  its  terrible  consequences 
are  the  most  sorrowful  portion  of  it  all. 

Ireland  received  many  sad.  and  heartrending  blows.  She  engaged  in 
rebellion  after  rebellion.  Norman  and  Plantagenet,  York  and  Lancaster, 
Tudor  and  Stuart,  Orange  and  Brunswick  vied  with  each  other  in  savage 
and  inhuman  brutality.  But  the  famine  was  the  saddest  of  all.  Let  us  now 
follow  it  out  as  it  really  occurred.  The  crops  of  1845  were  not  very  good. 
They  gave  promise  of  failure  and  consequently  the  people  were  unable  to 
put  by  any  supply.  The  year  '46  was  warm,  but  wet,  yet  the  crops  gave 
excellent  signs  when  suddenly  a  dense  white  fog  hung  heavily  over  the  whole 
country  and  completely  destroyed  the  potato  crop  in  one  night.  The  people 
were  struck  dumb  and  went  round  in  a  stoical  half  stupor.  They  at  once 
realized  the  gravity  of  the  situation;  their  condition  was  something  like  a 
community  which  lost  all  through  fire  or  flood  and  had  no  place  to  go  and 
no  way  of  selling  their  labor. 

Daniel  O'Connell  arose  in  Parliament  and  pointed  out  the  conditions 
as  they  actually  existed;  he  begged,  exhorted  and  tried  in  every  way  to  arouse 
the  Parliament  as  man  never  appealed  before.  Parliament  replied  by  pass- 
ing a  coercion  bill.  The  people  began  to  die  in  hundreds,  thousands,  tens  of 
thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands.  The  government  looked  on  com- 
placently. The  people  were  dying  faster  than  could  be  hoped  for,  as  de- 
clared by  the  gentle  poet  Spencer  on  a  former  occasion.  The  gaunt,  worn 
and  hungry  father  went  out  in  the  morning  looking  for  something  to  eat  and 
generally  came  home  at  night  empty  handed  and  broken  hearted,  to  see  his 
children  stretched  out  on  the  ground  sick,  weak,  emaciated,  their  bones  stick- 
ing nearly  through  their  skin,  their  lips  green  from  eating  dock  leaves  and 
water  cresses.  The  father,  very  often  wasted  and  worn,  lay  down  and  died 
of  either  hunger  or  a  broken  heart,  the  rest  of  the  family  usually  following. 

From  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  this  terrible  condition  of  af- 
fairs existed,  some  districts,  of  course,  being  worse  than  others.  The  govern- 
ment looked  delightfully  on.  The  landlords  now  decided  on  a  general  evic- 
tion. Organized  crowbar  brigades  commenced  the  terrible  work,  and  from 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  the  people  were  thrown  out  on  the  road- 
side. The  blowing  up  and  burning  of  houses,  the  crash  of  falling  walls,  the 
wails  of  the  sick  and  dying  and  groans  of  the  strong  and  desperate,  mixed  with 
the  curses  of  the  brutal  landlord  hirelings,  reverberated  throughout  the  land. 

15 


Did  England  try  to  prevent  the  evictions?  No!  She  was  simply  delighted. 
The  Irish  question,  the  knotty  Irish  question  was  at  last  going  to  be  settled 
in  an  unlooked  for  way. 

This  fact  should  be  understood.  Irish  eviction  means  total  eradication, 
the  rooting  out  of  the  whole  family.  There  is  no  hope  or  shadow  of  hope 
after  being  once  evicted,  no  work,  no  land;  emigration  is  the  only  alternative. 

The  triple  calamity  of  famine,  plague  and  eviction  drove  the  people  lit- 
erally emigration  mad.  Sadly,  sorrowfully,  silently,  broken-heartedly,  sul- 
lenly and  in  blank  despair  they  left,  not  buoyed  up  with  the  hopes  or  aspira- 
tions of  the  average  emigrant.  Their  real  sorrows  and  trials  had  as  yet  only 
begun.  They  scattered  themselves  everywhere, — Scotland,  England,  Aus- 
tralia, Canada  and  the  United  States.  They  were  packed  into  ships  like 
sardines  in  a  box,  where  a  total  disregard  for  all  sanitary  laws  prevailed,  and 
in  their  weakened  condition  they  became  easy  victims  of  the  dreaded  ship 
fever,  and  the  steady  splash,  splash  of  throwing  the  dead  into  the  ocean  be- 
came familiar  to  all.  Whole  families  died  on  the  trip  across,  and  it  was  noth- 
ing unusual  to  have  one  member  of  the  family  reach  these  shores  alive,  the 
rest  having  all  perished.  Emily  Lawless  estimates  that  "one-fifth  of  the 
emigrants  died  from  the  dreaded  fever  alone." 

Fortunately  the  New  York  authorities  kept  a  record  of  the  number  of 
sick  immigrants  entering  port.     This  is  what  the  records  state: 

Percentage  of  sick  emigrants  on  English  vessels  30 

Percentage  of  sick  emigrants  on  German  vessels      .  8  3/5 

Percentage  of  sick  emigrants  on  American  vessels  9  3/5 

The  foregoing  figures  speak  for  themselves  and  are  the  most  terrible  arraign- 
ment of  English  brutality  that  could  be  conceived.  There  were  hospitals 
to  take  care  of  the  sick,  and  the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  New  York  appointed 
a  committee  to  see  how  they  were  conducted.  Here  is  an  extract  from  their 
report:  "In  one  apartment  fifty  feet  square  there  were  one  hundred  sick  and 
dying  emigrants  lying  on  straw,  and  among  them,  in  their  midst,  the  bodies 
of  two  who  had  died  four  or  five  days  before,  but  had  been  left  for  that  time 
without  burial."  They  further  found  putrid  meat,  decayed  vegetables  and 
bad  flour  especially  purchased  for  the  strangers. 

This  is  a  terrible  picture,  yet  it  only  introduces  the  subject.  Henry 
Giles,  in  his  lectures,  comes  as  near  picturing  conditions  as  they  existed  as 
any  man  could.  One  would  think  that  Ireland's  abject  condition  would 
draw  a  sigh  of  sympathy  from  England.  No  such  thing.  From  one  end  of 
England  to  the  other  the  people  on  the  whole  were  chuckling  with  glee.  The 
London  Times  exultingly  declared  that  "A  Catholic  Celt  in  Ireland  would 
soon  be  as  rare  as  a  red  Indian  on  the  shores  of  Manhattan."  High  and  low 
rich  and  poor  were  delighted  at  the  turn  affairs  had  taken. 

England,  diplomatic  to  the  last,  and  rightly  judging  that  the  poor  emi- 

16 


grants  would  stir  up  sympathy  in  the  United  States,  pursued  them  here  as 
unrelentingly  as  ever.  Every  possible  agency  she  could  engage  was  aroused 
against  them.  The  libraries  were  packed  with  books  blackening  the  Irish 
character.  England's  agents  and  secret  service  men  found  access  to  all 
influential  societies  and  by  appealing  to  the  old  religious  and  sectional  preju- 
dices she  succeeded  in  stirring  up  the  "Know-Nothing"  movement. 

"Porter  drinking  propertyless  knaves,"  "Departing  demons  of  assassina- 
tion and  murder,"  "A  population  preternaturally  ignorant  and  lazy,"  "A 
race  of  cowards,"  "Eternal  rebels  against  the  despotism  of  facts,"  "Like  a 
witch  of  Endor  mumbling  curses  because  they  could  not  burn  at  the  stake 
and  shed  blood  as  of  yore,"  "They  might  be  all  right  in  a  polling  booth,  but 
could  not  handle  a  rifle"  were  some  of  the  things  said  against  them  by  serious 
historians,  and  to  complete  the  work  of  malignity,  Froude  made  a  tour  of  the 
United  States,  exercising  his  talents  to  blacken  them  still  more.  A  charac- 
teristic propaganda  article  by  J.  T.  Buckingham  to  the  Know-Nothings  of 
New  York  City  is  quoted  herewith: 

"In  the  plenitude  of  that  generosity  which  has  induced  us  to  feed  the 
hungry  and  clothe  the  naked,  we  have  warmed  into  life  the  torpid  viper  and 
fanged  adder  that  already  begin  to  show  their  teeth  and  spit  their  venom 
upon  our  dear  and  blood-bought  privileges,  our  sacred  and  most  cherished 
institutions.  Already  the  foreigners  attempt  to  control  our  legislators  to 
nominate  our  magistrates  and  to  brow-beat  our  voters  at  the  ballot  box ;  and 
if  any  of  them  are  too  diffident  or  too  ignorant  to  talk  to  us  in  the  tone  of 
defiance  and  domination,  they  sell  their  votes  to  the  more  enlightened  and 
crafty  demagogue  and  perjure  their  souls  at  the  hand  of  profligate  leaders." 

As  late  as  1855,  Governor  Gardener  of  Massachusetts  recommended  in 
his  inaugural  address  "an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  prohibiting  the 
right  of  aliens  to  vote  until  they  were  twenty-one  years  in  the  country." 
"The  honor  of  the  American  flag,"  he  contended,  "should  be  confided  to 
those  only  who  are  born  on  the  soil,  hallowed  by  its  protection;  they  alone 
can  justly  be  required  to  vindicate  its  rights."  Fortunately  for  the  Irish  in 
the  United  States,  England  did  all  she  could  to  break  up  the  Union,  there- 
fore her  propaganda  work  was  not  quite  so  effective  because  of  her  hostility. 


17 


CHAPTER  IV 

Religious  Persecution 

Ireland's  sufferings  were  many  and  varied,  but  the  so-called  Reformation 
fell  upon  her  the  heaviest  of  all.  The  basest  scoundrels  on  earth  were  en- 
gaged in  priest-hunting.  Many  of  the  hunters  made  a  regular  business  of 
it,  employing  a  number  of  men  as  well  as  bloodhounds.  A  well-equipped 
priest  hunter  was  generally  possessed  of  a  smattering  of  education,  and  by 
assuming  the  role  of  a  priest  he  Very  often  succeeded  in  getting  information 
leading  to  their  capture.  The  price  of  the  head  varied  from  time  to  time, 
depending  on  the  importance  of  the  priest  and  the  spirit  of  the  times.  It 
was  not  unusual  to  capture  five  or  six  priests  in  one  hunt.  The  English 
state  papers  inform  us  that  a  Lieutenant  Wood  captured  five  priests  and 
three  friars  in  one  hunt.  Henry  Eighth  commenced  the  work  in  a  very 
shrewd  manner.  He  abolished  all  the  old  titles  and  created  new  ones.  Any- 
one who  recognized  him  as  head  of  the  Church  was  treated  in  a  princely 
manner.  To  each  new  title  he  granted  generous  revenues  by  robbing  the 
churches  and  dividing  the  spoils  between  himself  and  the  newly  created 
nobles. 

Of  course,  the  old  Celtic  Irish  were  proof  against  such  materialism. 
The  converts  to  a  man  were  Anglo-Irish.  This  was  the  commencement  of 
what  was  afterwards  termed  the  Penal  Code.  Year  after  year  brutal  laws 
were  passed  until,  as  declared  by  Montesquieu,  "They  were  conceived  by 
devils,  written  in  human  gore  and  registered  in  hell."  Every  possible  pun- 
ishment that  could  be  thought  of  was  resorted  to.  This  led  to  perpetual 
war. 

The  Catholic  religion  was  solemnly  declared  high  treason.  Commencing 
in  Henry  Eighth's  time,  the  horrors  continued  year  by  year  until  as  late  as 
George  First's  time  the  inhuman,  brutal  and  horrible  law  of  castration  was 
passed.  Is  it  possible  that  England  would  degrade  herself  by  allowing  her 
Irish  Parliament  to  pass  a  law  that  would  make  Nero  blush  with  shame? 
Such  is  unfortunately  the  case! 

To  debase  Ireland  and  prevent  her  from  being  able  to  present  her  case, 
education  must  be  crushed;  therefore,  a  price  was  placed  on  the  head  of  a 
schoolteacher.  Is  it  possible?  Yes.  And  what  is  England's  excuse.  The 
Irish  must  reform  and  go  to  Protestant  schools.  Churches  were  closed. 
The  Irish  were  not  alone  commanded  to  go  to  Protestant  Churches,  but 
they  were  compelled  to  support  them.  Schools,  churches  and  colleges  were 
closed,  type  broken  and  every  possible  agency  of  education  closed  against 

18 


Catholics.  A  price  was  offered  for  the  head  of  a  bishop,  priest,  bard  or  a 
wolf.  This  law  gave  birth  to  a  school  of  priest  hunters.  The  most  success- 
ful ones  were  specially  trained  in  the  Continent  for  such  work.  The  Irish 
maintained  sixteen  colleges  in  Rome,  France,  Spain,  Belgium  and  Portugal 
for  educating  priests  who  very  often  had  a  foreign  accent.  A  Portuguese 
Jew  named  Garza  captured  five  priests  in  one  year  in  and  around  Dublin, 
according  to  John  Mitchel.  Catholics  could  not  go  to  school  at  home,  nor 
could  they  be  sent  abroad.  Discovery  of  such  a  crime  as  education  wrecked 
and  ruined  the  parents  of  the  child  or  man. 

Catholics  could  not  own  property  except  by  connivance.  They  could 
not  make  a  will,  take  a  lease  or  become  the  guardian  of  their  own  children. 
They  could  not  sit  in  Parliament  or  vote,  in  fact,  they  could  not  enter  the 
Parliament  house  as  observers.  Any  Protestant  who  informed  on  a  Cath- 
olic owning  property  became  possessor  of  the  same.  Upon  being  summoned, 
Catholics  were  compelled  to  testify  when  and  where  they  had  last  heard 
Mass.     Refusal  meant  fines  and  flogging. 

If  a  wife  turned  Protestant,  a  jointure  was  fixed  upon  her  by  law.  If  a 
boy  or  girl  consented  to  turn  Protestant,  he  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
Protestant  and  well  supplied  with  his  father's  property  if  his  parent  had 
any.  If  a  priest  turned  Protestant,  he  was  granted  a  pension  by  the  govern- 
ment, even  if  the  rope  were  about  his  neck  to  be  hanged. 

A  Catholic  could  not  enter  a  walled  city  at  night.  A  Catholic  could 
not  practise  law,  sit  on  a  jury,  act  as  judge,  practise  medicine  or  handle  a 
gun.  How  could  the  spark  of  faith  be  kept  alive  under  such  circumstances, 
you  will  ask?  By  the  noblest  sacrifice  that  a  nation  ever  offered.  A  stream 
of  priests  kept  pouring  into  Ireland.  Assuming  the  garb  of  beggars,  farm- 
ers, jobbers,  minstrels  or  actors,  they  lived  in  caves,  in  the  woods,  in  the 
bogs,  away  from  the  haunts  of  man.  Word  would  be  given  that  Mass  would 
be  said  at  a  certain  time  in  some  secluded  spot  or  lonesome  byway  where  the 
faithful  would  gather,  very  often  to  be  surprised  and  to  meet  their  doom  at 
the  hands  of  a  brutal  soldiery.  There  is  hardly  a  place  in  Ireland  where 
some  noble  martyr  did  not  offer  up  his  life  for  his  faith.  It  was  calculated 
with  cold-blooded  exactness  that  one  hundred  years  of  such  persecution 
would  completely  obliterate  every  trace  of  the  Catholic  faith. 

England  declared  that  any  Catholic  ecclesiastic  coming  into  Ireland 
against  the  law  would  be  executed  as  a  traitor.  Therefore,  England  justifies 
herself  on  the  ground  that  she  warned  them.  The  Germans  warned  the 
world  that  they  were  going  to  sink  the  Lusitania.  This  only  justified  her  in 
her  own  eyes;   she  could  not  convince  the  world  that  she  was  right. 

In  order  to  remove  all  doubt  as  to  the  horrors  of  the  Reformation  in 
Ireland  we  will  quote  Dr.  John  Milner,  a  noble-minded  English  bishop  who 
went  to  Ireland  to  study  the  subject.  He  informs  us  that  the  currycomb 
and  bowel  ripping  knife  were  freely  used,  that  "beating  in  the  priests'  skulls 

19 


with  cobble  stones  was  a  favorite  way  of  killing  them."  He  tells  us  that 
good  Queen  Bess  granted  safe  conduct  passports  to  fifty-one  monks  stationed 
in  the  island  of  Scattery  on  the  Shannon,  and  as  soon  as  the  ship  upon  which 
they  embarked  was  a  little  distance  from  the  shore,  they  were  all  set  upon, 
thrown  into  the  sea  and  drowned.    ■ 

Various  forms  of  torture  were  used  in  killing  Catholics,  especially  priests 
— throwing  them  into  lime-kilns;  tearing  them  apart  by  mill  wheels;  tying 
them  to  a  galloping  horse  and  pulling  them  along  the  ground ;  crushing  their 
skulls  with  their  own  girdles ;  throwing  them  from  high  points,  towers,  gates, 
etc.;  breaking  their  bones  with  hammers.  The  Catholic  Encyclopedia 
gives  the  names  of  two  hundred  and  forty-two  martyrs  who  are  now  going 
through  the  process  of  canonization,  all  Catholic  clergymen  who  died  for 
their  faith  in  Ireland.  All  this  could  have  been  avoided  by  simply  changing 
their  faith,  England  will  say,  therefore,  that  it  was  their  own  fault.  Why 
should  they  superstitiously  adhere  to  a  degraded  faith,  was  England's  brutal 
query? 

To  add  insult  to  injury,  England  has  charged  Ireland  with  being  ignor- 
ant, after  deliberately  making  her  so.  English  historians,  one  after  another, 
have  a  stock  in  trade  abuse  against  Catholics.  The  Inquisition,  St.  Bar- 
tholomew Massacre,  Guy  Fawke's  plot,  etc.,  are  told  of,  but  they  know  noth- 
ing of  Henry  Eighth's  seventy-eight  thousand  murders,  Elizabeth's  slaughter 
of  thousands  of  priests  and  bishops,  the  Massacres  of  Glencoe,  Mullagh- 
mast  and  Scattery.  They  know  all  about  Smithfield's  and  nothing  of  Ty- 
burn. Irish  history  is  strangled;  it  cannot  be  taught  in  Irish  schools,  and 
England  has  made  it  unpopular  in  the  United  States  because  of  her  super- 
diplomacy.  Even  Colonial  laws  under  English  rule  of  not  so  many  years  ago 
were  so  brutal  that  they  allowed  the  ears  of  Quakers  to  be  clipped  off,  their 
tongues  pulled  out  and  red  hot  irons  plunged  through  them,  to  say  nothing 
of  putting  them  to  death.  What  can  we  think  of  a  race  of  people  that  dug 
up  Oliver  Cromwell's  remains  one  year  after  he  was  buried  and  hanged  the 
skeleton  to  a  public  gibbet.  Not  yet  satisfied,  they  dug  up  his  old  mother 
and  did  the  same  to  her. 

Surrounded  by  such  a  chain  of  multiplied  horrors  and  calamities,  the 
people  never  faltered,  never  weakened,  never  showed  the  white  feather.  Irish 
fathers  and  mothers  saw  their  sons  and  daughters  swept  into  slavery  and 
shame.  They  lost  their  language,  lost  their  laws,  lost  their  lands,  houses, 
property,  money  and  were  actually  reduced  to  serfs.  Only  enough  of  them 
were  allowed  to  live  to  hew  wood  and  draw  water,  and  yet  they  kept  the 
priceless  gift  of  their  faith  untarnished,  and  to  it  they  clung  with  passionate 
devotion.  Misery,  want,  pain,  rags,  hunger,  thirst,  the  rack,  the  gibbet, 
the  bowel  ripping  knife  everlastingly  hung  over  them,  yet  they  never  wav- 
ered, but  looked  forward  to  a  bright  future,  hoping  and  trusting  and  pray- 
ing, knowing  that  the  term  of  their  thralldom  would  some  day  end. 

20 


Just  by  way  of  illustration,  we  will  mention  a  few  of  the  bishops  who 
were  martyred  for  their  faith  sooner  than  live  in  wealth  and  luxury  by  con- 
forming to  English  materialism. 

Archbishop  Plunkett,  Primate  of  Ireland,  quartered  in  the  year  1681. 

McQueely,  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  tortured,  1645. 

O'Hurley,  Archbishop  of  Cashel,  tortured,  1584. 

Creagh,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  tortured,  1584. 

0 'Haley,  Bishop  of  Mayo,  tortured,  1578. 

O'Brien,  Bishop  of  Emly,  tortured,  1586. 

O'Gallagher,  Bishop  of  Deny,  tortured,  1600. 

O'Devanny,  Bishop  of  Down,  tortured,  1612. 

Herlihy,  Bishop  of  Ross,  tortured,  1579. 

Dungan,  Bishop  of  Down,  tortured,  1628. 

Tanner,  Bishop  of  Cork,  tortured,  1579. 

William  Walsh,  Bishop  of  Meath,  tortured,  1578. 

Robert  Netterville,  an  old,  bed-ridden  priest,  was  captured  at  Drogheda. 
He  was  dragged  along  the  ground,  beaten  with  clubs,  kicked  brutally  and  in 
this  manner  he  was  allowed  to  live  three  days  until  death  came  to  his  relief. 
The  Bathe  brothers,  two  priests,  were  beaten,  dragged  along  the  street,  tied 
to  stakes  and  shot  by  Cromwell. 

In  Elizabeth's  reign,  in  the  town  of  Clonmel,  Tipperary  County,  a  Father 
Enright  was  in  jail,  the  English  hoping  that  he  would  conform.  A  Mr.  White 
bribed  the  jailer  to  let  him  out  to  say  Mass.  The  authorities  were  warned 
and  made  a  raid  on  White's  house,  searched  it  thoroughly,  but  could  not 
find  the  priest.  The  soldiers  probed  everywhere  with  their  bayonets,  all 
to  no  avail.  It  happened  that  the  priest  was  placed  under  a  pile  of  straw 
which  was  thoroughly  bayoneted  by  the  soldiers  and  in  doing  so  they  ran 
him  through  in  two  places.  Such  was  his  mastery  of  mind  over  matter  that 
he  never  betrayed  himself,  but  escaped.  Although  seriously  hurt,  he  was 
not  mortally  wounded.  White  was  arrested  and  given  until  next  morning 
to  live  if  Father  Enright  did  not  apprehend  himself.  The  good  priest  was 
informed  of  the  situation  and  hobbled  towards  the  jail  to  give  himself  up. 
He  was  offered  power,  place  and  pension  if  he  would  take  the  oath  of  allegiance. 
This  he  manfully  refused  to  do.  He  was  then  hanged,  his  head  cut  off  and 
placed  on  the  jail  tower.     This  is  a  fair  sample  of  what  Ireland  suffered. 

Let  us  again  quote  J.  Milner.  "P.  O'Hurley,  O.  S.  F.,  Archbishop  of 
Cashel,  who  falling  into  the  hands  of  Sir  William  Drury  in  the  year  1579, 
was  tortured  by  his  legs  being  immersed  in  jackboots  filled  with  quicklime, 
water,  etc.,  until  they  were  burnt  to  the  bone,  in  order  to  force  him  to  take  the 
oath  of  supremacy,  and  then  with  other  circumstances  of  barbarity,  executed 
on  the  scaffold,  having  previously  cited  Drury  to  meet  him  before  the  tri- 
bunal of  Christ  before  ten  days,  who  accordingly  died  within  that  period 
amidst  the  most  excruciating  pains." 

21 


The  same  authority  states,  "In  Elizabeth's  reign  it  was  a  usual  thing 
to  beat  with  stones  the  shorn  heads  of  the  priests  till  their  brains  gushed 
out.  Others  had  needles  thrust  between  their  finger  nails  and  flesh  or  the 
nails  themselves  torn  off.  Many  were  stretched  upon  the  rack  or  pressed 
under  weights.  Others  had  their  bowels  torn  open  or  their  flesh  torn  with 
currycombs." 

John  Mitchel,  a  Protestant  minister's  son,  tells  us  that  "Archbishop 
Healy  of  Mayo  County  was  captured,  had  his  bones  broken  with  hammers 
and  sharp  instruments  driven  in  between  his  finger  nails  and  flesh.  In  this 
manner  he  was  tortured,  combined  with  other  indignities,  and  then  executed." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  call  for  any  authority  in  proof  of  the  truth  of  the 
statements  made  here.  We  will  close  the  chapter  in  the  words  of  the  well- 
known  Protestant  writer,  Godkin: 

"The  18th  Century  was  the  era  of  persecution  in  which  the  law  did  the 
work  of  the  sword  more  effectually  and  more  safely.  Then  was  established 
a  code  framed  with  almost  diabolical  ingenuity  to  extinguish  natural  affec- 
tion, to  perpetuate  brutal  ignorance,  to  facilitate  the  work  of  tyranny  by 
rendering  the  vices  of  slavery  inherent  and  natural  in  the  Irish  character 
and  to  make  Protestantism  almost  irredeemably  odious  as  the  monstrous  in- 
carnation of  all  moral  perversions.  Having  no  rights  or  franchises,  no  legal 
protection  of  life  or  property,  disqualified  to  handle  a  gun,  forbidden  even 
to  acquire  the  elements  of  knowledge  at  home  or  abroad — forbidden  even  to 
render  to  God  what  conscience  dictated  as  His  due — what  could  the  Irish 
be  but  serfs?  Is  it  not  amazing  that  any  social  virtue  could  have  survived 
such  an  ordeal?" 


22 


CHAPTER  V 

Ireland's  Struggle  for  Freedom  in  the  Battlefield 
and  Legislative  Halls 

In  order  to  fully  estimate  Ireland's  claim  we  must  briefly  review  her 
struggles.  Let  no  man  think  for  a  moment  that  she  laid  down  after  the 
first  shock  of  battle. 

Year  after  year,  century  after  century  found  her  engaged  in  war  after 
war,  winning  battle  after  battle.  Making  sacrifice  after  sacrifice,  but,  in 
the  end,  she  was  always  vanquished  by  the  foul  invader.  A  mere  recital  of 
the  battles  would  become  monotonous,  so  will  group  the  struggle  into  epochs. 

Many  times  England  was  beaten  to  her  knees,  only  to  come  back  through 
some  strange  luck,  for  instance,  such  as  the  United  States  going  into  the 
present  war,  famine,  wind,  etc.  We  will  here  group  together  Ireland's  many 
victories,  but  it  is  only  fair  to  state  that  they  were  often  defeated. 

In  the  first  one  hundred  years  Ireland  had  twenty-one  wars  with  Eng- 
land, during  which  time  they  won  thirty-nine  big  battles,  to  say  nothing  about 
private  strife,  skirmishes,  forays,  and  the  battles  they  lost.  To  better  illus- 
trate :  great  battles  were  won  over  the  English  according  to  the  Four  Masters, 
in  the  years  1185-88-92-95-96-1212-13-21-27-33-47-48-50-53-57-58-60- 
62-63-64^-70-75.  In  some  of  those  years  the  Irish  won  many  victories  and 
also  lost  many.  Our  main  object  is  to  prove  that  we  did  not  surrender  with- 
out a  bitter  struggle. 

The  English  were  literally  swept  out  of  Ireland.  Edward  Bruce  was  From 
crowned  King,  and  with  the  aid  of  his  famous  brother,  Robert,  England  1315t0 
was  defeated  in  twenty-seven  big  battles.     Famine  saved  her  this  time. 

In  this  year  a  great  battle  was  fought  at  Limerick  in  which  the  Deputy,    1350 
the  Earl  of  Desmond,  was  killed  and  his  army  destroyed. 


Art  Second  McMurrough,  Prince  of  Leinster,  fought  England  for  forty- 
two  years,  won  over  twenty  great  battles.  Killed  Richard  Second's  son  in 
one  battle,  disastrously  defeated  Richard,  who  conducted  two  great  cam- 
paigns and  personally  led  the  two  largest  English  armies  that  ever  trod  on 
Irish  soil.  After  his  second  defeat,  he  hastened  back  to  England,  only  to 
lose  his  head  and  crown  to  the  Lancastrians  who  conspired  against  him  in 
his  absence. 

The  Duke  of  Lancaster,  surrounded  with  England's  greatest  generals 
collected  another  mighty  army.     Art  swooped  down  on  them  at  Kilmainham 

23 


and  won  the  most  brilliant  victory  of  the  time.  The  Duke  was  badly 
wounded,  carried  into  the  city  of  Dublin,  whose  stout  walls  saved  the  wreck 
of  his  army. 

Frem  Ireland  was  in  a  continuous  state  of  war  against  England. 

1540  Con  O'Neill, 

1600  Shane  O'Neill, 

Silken  Thomas, 

Gerald,  15th  Earl  of  Desmond, 
Bryan  O'Neill, 
Hugh  O'Neill, 
Hugh  Roe  O'Donnell, 
struck  England  some  awful  blows.     England's  greatest  generals  and  over 
twenty  large  armies  were  destroyed  in  the  great  Irish  victories  of  Kilmallock, 
Athlone,  Blackwood,  Canillo,  Monastir  Neny,  Graufin,  Gurt-na  Pisa,  Glen- 
dalough,    Dublin,    Maynooth,    Ballahoa,    Deny,    Cossog-Derg,    Enniskillen, 
Battleford-Bridge,   Portmore,   Benburb,   Clontibret,  Armagh,  Killoter,  Pass 
of  Plumes,  Crome,  Corsleibh,  and  the  Yellow  Ford. 

In  this  series  of  wars  over  twenty  of  England's  greatest  generals  were 
defeated  and  many  of  them  killed.     Failure  and  destruction  of  crops  ruined 
the  Irish  who  were  compelled  to  yield. 
1640  to  From  1640  to  1691  Ireland  was  again  in  a  continual  state  of  war. 

1691  The  Civil  war  of  1641  was  followed  by  Cromwell's  Butcheries.     Out  of 

the  general  salughter  shines  the  great  victory  of  Benburb,  won  by  the  cele- 
brated Owen  Roe  O'Neill. 


Then  came  the 

Williamite  War,  and  although  the  Irish  won  at 

"Athlone," 

"Ballyneety," 

"Limerick"  and  other  places.  And  although  Sarsfield  covered  himself 
with  undying  fame,  they  were  in  the  end  overpowered  and  the  Irish  army 
volunteered  to  go  to  France,  where  they  formed  the  "Irish  Brigade,"  so  fa- 
mous in  history.  The  manhood  of  Ireland  now  turned  towards  France  and 
the  United  States,  and  the  nation  fell  into  a  comatose  condition  lasting  a 
hundred  years. 

Wolfe  Tone  succeeded  in  once  more  rousing  the  spirit  of  the  people,  and 
after  efforts  never  before  excelled  by  one  man,  he  succeeded  in  getting  the 
French  government  to  equip  a  fleet  of  fifty  Battleships,  well  manned,  com- 
manded by  three  great  admirals.  15,000  veteran  troops  were  on  board. 
The  grand  armament  left  France  for  Ireland,  December,  1796.  A  storm  of 
unnatural  severity  broke  and  scattered  them  like  chaff.  A  thick  fog  also 
settled  over  them,  to  addto  the  confusion,  and  once  more  England  was  saved 

24 


by  the  elements.     Again  the  Batavian  Republic  collected  a  great  fleet  of  26    1798 
Battleships,  15,000  veteran  troops,  and  offered  them  to  Ireland.     The  ex- 
pedition was  ready  for  months  and  could  not  start,  being  becalmed.     This 
is  known  as  the  Trexel  expedition  and  was  one  of  the  best  ever  organized. 
And  England  was  again  saved  by  the  elements. 

Once  more  Tone  succeeded  in  having  France  furnish  another  force  for 
Ireland.  Once  more  it  was  wrecked  by  a  storm.  Tone  was  captured  and 
either  murdered  or  committed  suicide. 

Small  battles  were  fought  here  and  there  in  the  Rebellion  of  1798;  the 
Irish  won  at 

"Mount  Norris," 
"Oulart  Hill," 
"Wexford," 
"Gorey," 
' '  Tubberneering, ' ' 
"Castlebar"  (By  the  French), 
"Carnew." 
How  England  forced  the  people  into  rebellion  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
about  a  union  we  cannot  touch  upon.     As  a  fair  sample  of  her  brutality, 
however,  we  will  refer  to  how  Father  John  Murphy  was  treated.     George 
Taylor,  historian,  states: — 

"Lord  Mountnorris  ordered  his  head  struck  off  and  the  body  thrown 
into  a  house  that  was  burning,  exclaiming  at  the  same  time,  'Let  his  body 
go  where  his  soul  is.'  " 

Rev.  James  Gordon  states: — 

They  "cut  open  the  dead  body  of  Father  Murphy,  took  out  his  heart, 
roasted  the  body  and  oiled  their  boots  with  the  grease  that  dripped  from  it." 

This  story  is  so  horrible  that,  were  it  not  vouched  for  by  such  a  witness 
as  Captain  Holmes  of  the  Durham  Regiment,  many  would  doubt  it. 

John  Mitchell  informs  us  that  Hunter  Gowan,  a  Captain  of  Yeomanry, 
carried  the  finger  of  a  papist  in  his  pocket  to  mix  the  drinks  with,  etc. 


The  1803-46-67  and  1916  affairs  we  will  pass  over.  To  give  an  idea  of 
English  justice,  no  farther  back  than  three  years  ago,  Connolly,  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Dublin  Rebellion,  was  captured  in  a  dying  condition.  To  die 
an  honorable  soldier's  death  would  not  satisfy  English  brutality,  so  they 
marched  a  firing  squad  into  the  hospital,  propped  him  up  in  bed  and  poured 
a  stream  of  bullets  into  his  body. 

The  foregoing  will  give  us  at  least  an  idea  of  how  Ireland  struggled  for 
her  freedom  in  the  field  of  battle  and  although  she  has  not  been  successful, 
yet  she  has  been  instrumental  in  humiliating  the  Common  enemy ^on  many  a 
battlefield,  and  we  are  as  determined  as  ever  not  to^quit. 

25 


LEGISLATIVE  STRUGGLE 

We  will  now  briefly  cover  Ireland's  constitutional  struggle  for  self  gov- 
ernment. 

The  Statutes  of  Kilkenny  were  enacted  by  the  English  in  Ireland,  as 
we  have  shown  in  the  first  chapter.  The  Irish  were  then  considered  eternal 
Rebels  whom  it  was  no  crime  to  kill,  and  in  every  age  the  Celtic  Irish  have 
been  treated  in  a  like  manner.  They  were  never  considered  except  as  ene- 
mies and  slaves. 

Through  English  stupidity  or  vanity  many  of  the  colony  broke  away  and 
adopted  Irish  manners,  customs,  etc. 

The  Statutes  of  Kilkenny  were  aimed  at  such  and  to  better  protect 
England  against  Irish  ideals,  what  is  known  in  history  as  Poynings  Law  was 
enacted. 

Henry  Seventh,  First  of  the  Tudors,  sent  to  Ireland  as  his  Deputy,  Sir 
Edw.  Poynings.  A  meeting  was  called  at  Drogheda  and  the  announcement 
made  that  no  more  laws  could  originate  in  Ireland.  The  Irish  council  could 
propose  a  law  and  send  it  to  England,  where  it  could  be  altered,  annulled, 
amended,  or  in  fact,  treated  as  England  thought  fit. 

Some  contend  that  Henry  acted  through  spite  because  the  Irish  favored 
the  Lancastrians  in  "The  Wars  of  the  Roses." 

In  order  to  keep  Ireland  under  control,  it  was  necessary  for  England 
to  exercise  great  care,  and  in  making  the  Irish  Parliament  a  mere  conference, 
she  protected  her  interests.  It  was  barely  possible  that  in  future  generations 
the  colony  might  become  Irish;  therefore,  a  restraining  hand  was  necessary. 
Ireland  was  and  is  often  charged  with  selling  out  to  England.  There  was 
not  one  single  Catholic  vote  cast  for  the  union.  We  should  remember  that 
for  a  very  brief  space,  when  William  and  James  contested  for  supremacy  in 
Ireland,  a  Catholic  Irish  Parliament  was  elected  in  the  storm  of  Civil  War, 
and,  although  for  generations  they  suffered  many  wrongs,  yet  their  first  act 
was: — 

"To  establish  free  schools  and  the  following,  considering  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  met,  will  forever  redound  to  Ireland's  glory: 

"We  hereby  declare  that  it  is  the  law  of  this  land,  that  not  now,  or  ever 
again,  shall  any  man  be  persecuted  for  his  religion."  (May,  1689.) 

No  wonder  that  Lecky  would  say,  "The  Protestants  were  guaranteed 
full  liberty." 

Prior  to  the  Independence  of  the  United  States,  Parliaments  were  con- 
trolled by  a  few.  Every  big  man  owned  members  of  Parliament.  The  Bur- 
roughs were  often  auctioned  for  sale.  6,000  voters  elected  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  Parliament  of  all  England.  They  only  had  about  one  voter  to 
every  one  hundred  persons. 

26 


In  Ireland  through  her  system  of  stuffed  Burroughs,  only  72  out  of  300 
members  were  elected,  and  at  that  the  Catholic  population  had  no  vote  at 
all  except  for  a  very  brief  period. 

After  Ireland  was  crushed  in  the  Williamite  war  the  Catholic  population 
was  scattered.  The  Garrison  then  took  a  turn  out  of  the  Presbyterians  and 
struck  fiercely  at  many  of  their  industries.  The  Irish  House  of  Lords  refused 
to  be  controlled  by  the  English  House,  leading  to  a  bitter  controversy  which 
resulted  in  Act  6,  Geo.  1st.  England  declared  by  that  act  that  Ireland  was 
a  subject  country  and  England  could  bind  her.  The  destruction  of  Irish 
Industries  and  the  persecution  of  Presbyterians  created  an  opposition  to  the 
government  giving  birth  to  the  Patriot  Party. 

We  must  always  remember  that  Lucas  Swift  and,  in  fact,  all  of  the  Irish 
leaders  of  that  period,  were  not  alone  Protestants,  but  in  the  great  majority 
of  cases  despised  the  Catholics  and  looked  upon  them  with  contempt. 

Wolfe  Tone  was  the  first  who  came  out  unqualifiedly  in  favor  of  Cath- 
olic rights.  He  clearly  saw  that  with  seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  people 
disqualified,  England  could  easily  keep  them  under  control. 

But  why  go  back  to  the  Statutes  of  Kilkenny  Poynings'  Law,  William's 
or  George's  Law?  Have  we  not  in  Ireland  to-day  an  English  Garrison, 
trained,  tutored  and  bred  in  such  a  manner  that  they  hate  their  own  coun- 
try with  all  the  concentrated  fury  and  blindness  that  the  curse  of  bigotry 
stamps  upon  them?  Sooner  than  see  their  own  country  free,  they  would 
give  up  their  lives. 

The  man  of  to-day  who  wants  to  look  honestly  into  Ireland's  claims  and 
seriously  consider  its  justice  does  not  have  to  go  back  over  five  years  to  know 
that  as  soon  as  a  Home  Rule  measure  was  put  on  the  Statute  books  of  Eng- 
land granting  Ireland  a  small  share  of  freedom,  the  English  garrison,  led  by 
Carson,  armed  and  equipped  an  army  and  swore  by  the  holy  bones  of  William 
the  German  that  they  would  kick  England  into  the  Boyne  water  before  they 
would  accept  any  law  from  Ireland.  This  is  the  story  of  to-day,  and  it's  the 
story  of  Ireland  for  seven  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  the  most  insulting 
part  of  it  all  is,  England  tells  us  to  unite,  otherwise  she  won't  listen  to  us. 

Just  as  the  Colonists  in  the  United  States  were  slowly  lashed  into  a  spirit 
of  resistance,  so  also  was  Ireland.  If  Grattan  struck  for  complete  separation, 
the  map  of  Europe  would  be  different  to-day.  His  foolish  idea  about  main- 
taining independence  under  the  British  crown  and  the  most  absolute  stupidity 
of  the  garrison,  thinking  that  they  could  maintain  their  freedom  with  five- 
sixths  of  the  people  disfranchised  would  not  seem  to  be  the  acts  of  men  who 
were  as  bright  and  intelligent  as  there  were  in  any  legislative  body  then  in 
the  world. 

The  United  States  set  Ireland  a  fine  example.  She  commenced  to  agi- 
tate for  freedom.  Finally,  in  the  year  1780,  Grattan  introduced  his  famous 
Bill  of  Rights.     It  was  easily  voted  down.     About  75,000  volunteers,  well 

27 


armed  and  equipped,  threw  down  the  gage  of  battle  to  England,  and  with 
shotted  cannon  trained  on  the  Parliament  House,  they  called  for  Self-Govern- 
ment or  war.  England  granted  their  request.  Grattan  now  introduced  his 
bill  of  rights.  England  was  always  proof  against  a  good  argument,  but  not 
against  a  cannon,  so  she  gave  in.  Ireland  was  free,  and  many  thought  that 
the  chains  would  be  stricken  from  the  Catholics  in  a  short  time. 

England  shone  forth  now  as  country  never  did  before.  The  United 
States,  France,  Spain  and  India  pounded  her  into  a  standstill.  Ireland  was 
then  numerically  greater  than  the  United  States.  Nothing  could  prevent 
her  from  gaining  complete  independence  except  the  accursed  bigotry  of  the 
times. 

England  took  advantage  of  it  and  stirred  up  trouble  through  her  super- 
diplomacy  and  propaganda  work.  Whether  we  like  it  or  not,  and  no  matter 
how  much  it  pains  us,  compared  with  England  in  the  field  of  diplomacy,  the 
rest  of  the  world  are  mere  children.  She  has  been  able  to  impose  on  the 
world  and  make  it  believe  that  she  is  right  even  when  she  is  robbing  and 
plundering. 

The  work  of  ruining  Ireland  was  easy.  The  first  step  was  to  disband 
the  volunteers.  This  was  easily  done  through  the  Earl  of  Charlemont's 
treachery,  he  being  commander-in-chief.  The  French  Revolution  also  helped 
to  line  up  the  aristocracy,  by  half  hanging  free  quarter  and  pitchcapping  a 
rebellion  was  stirred  up.  Pitt,  Lords  Cornwallis  and  Castlreagh  were  given 
full  power.  A  place  bill,  putting  seven  million  dollars  into  their  hands,  was 
passed  and  titles  were  freely  dispensed. 

A  certain  Lord  Blacquere  organized  a  shooting  club,  composed  of  des- 
perate assassins,  whose  duty  it  was  to  shoot  down  any  patriot  who  assailed 
the  government.  These  men  were  stuffed  into  Parliament.  Lord  Ely  re- 
ceived $225,000  for  the  vote  of  his  burroughs.  The  bribe  money  was  taxed 
on  the  Irish  people  and  so  England  easily  carried  the  question.  To  make  it 
appear  decent,  she  promised  the  Catholics  emancipation. 

The  passage  of  the  Union  is  rightly  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  foulest 
crimes  in  history  and  should  be  rightly  considered  as  such.  Lord  Clare 
declared,  "There  is  not  a  nation  in  the  habitable  globe  which  has  advanced 
in  cultivation,  in  manufactories  with  the  same  rapidity,  in  the  same  period 
(1782-98)  as  Ireland."  Of  course,  England  well  knew  that,  and  to  prevent 
Ireland  from  expanding,  she  ruined  the  country.  Gladstone  declared,  "I 
know  of  no  blacker  or  fouler  transaction  in  the  history  of  man  than  the  mak- 
ing of  the  Union  between  England  and  Ireland."  Harold  Begbie,  English 
author,  states:  "Ireland  was  swindled  out  of  her  national  independence; 
and  the  traitors  in  her  own  camp  were  either  rewarded  with  titles  or  paid 
like  cash  tradesmen  with  enormous  sums  of  money  which  a  shameless  England 
did   not  scruple  to  charge  upon  Ireland.     England  first  set  herself  to  con- 

28 


quer,  then  to  exterminate,  and  afterwards  to  beggar  the  inhabitants  of  Ire- 
land by  this  act  of  union  like  a  common  scoundrel." 

Lecky,  the  anti-home  ruler,  stated,  "The  sacrifice  of  nationality  was 
extorted  by  the  most  enormous  corruption  in  the  history  of  representative 
institutions." 

It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  writer  to  go  into  the  details  of  Ireland's 
struggle  after  the  passage  of  the  Union,  as  space  will  not  permit.  It  took 
twenty  years  of  almost  civil  war  to  win  Catholic  Emancipation.  For  every 
act  in  behalf  of  Ireland  placed  on  England's  statute  books  the  Irish  members 
had  to  fight  as  men  never  fought  before.  Many  of  them  were  sent  to  jail, 
some  were  shot  at.  Even  to-day  thousands  of  Irishmen  are  in  jail  for  loving 
their  country,  and  John  Redmond  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  in  the 
one  hundred  and  nineteen  years  of  union,  England  has  given  the  Irish  eighty- 
seven  Coercion  Bills.     Yet  we  are  supposed  to  cheer  for  her. 


29 


CHAPTER  VI 

How  Irish  Industries  Were  Crushed 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  believe  that  any  civilized  country  would  so 
deliberately  plan  the  ruin  of  another  as  England  planned  Ireland's  ruin. 
Were  it  not  for  the  various  enactments  already  referred  to,  we  could  not 
without  hesitation  accept  the  story  of  Ireland's  commercial  ruin.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  England  would  not  scruple  to  destroy  any  foreign  industry, 
much  less  the  industry  of  a  country  that  she  despised  as  heartily  as  she  did 
Ireland,  which  she  succeeded  in  degrading  to  the  lowest  level  of  any  people 
in  the  civilized  world. 

As  briefly  as  possible  we  will  point  out  the  facts  and  in  this  connection 
McManus  will  be  mainly  used  as  our  authority.  In  the  year  1339  England 
appointed  an  admiral  whose  duty  it  was  to  stop  all  traffic  between  Ireland 
and  the  continent.  This  was  the  commencement.  In  1465  Edward  Fourth 
prevented  foreign  vessels  from  fishing  in  Irish  waters  without  an  English 
permit.  The  reason  he  gave  was  that  he  "deplored  the  prosperity  of  the 
Irish  trade."  In  the  year  1494  England  forbade  the  exportation  from  Ire- 
land of  any  manufactured  article  without  permission  from  England,  and 
even  then  the  Irish  were  compelled  to  send  their  goods  to  English  ports  for  the 
purpose  of  taxing  them. 

Law  after  law  was  passed,  until  the  year  1548,  when  the  merchants  of 
England  began  to  arm  private  vessels  for  the  purpose  of  attacking,  plunder- 
ing and  destroying  Irish  ships.  In  1571  Elizabeth  confiscated  the  commerce 
of  Munster,  and  the  law  ordained  that  no  shipment  could  be  made  even  to 
England  except  by  an  Englishman  or  a  merchant  approved  by  the  govern- 
ment. 

As  early  as  the  year  1447,  England  declared  Irish  money  useless  and 
flooded  Ireland  with  a  debased  currency.  The  Irish  naturally  favored  their 
own  coin  in  preference  to  the  spurious  article,  and  England  therefore  de- 
clared it  treason  to  refuse  to  accept  English  money.  In  addition  to  Parlia- 
mentary enactments,  private  agencies  were  at  work  discriminating  against 
and  trying  to  destroy  Irish  industries.  Just  as  soon  as  an  industry  began 
to  gain  headway,  complaints  were  made  and  laws  enacted  to  crush  it.  Henry 
Eighth  prohibited  the  shipment  of  Irish  cloth  from  Galway. 

In  1663  sweeping  laws  were  enacted  against  Irish  trade.  All  foreign 
ships  except  English  boats  manned  by  Englishmen  were  denied  admittance 
into  Irish  ports.     The  Irish  shipping  industry  alone  gave  England  much 

30 


concern.  In  spite  of  laws,  they  found  an  occasional  loophole  and  it  took 
about  three  hundred  years  to  crush  it  completely. 

The  manufacture  of  cloths  of  any  kind  caused  England  great  uneasiness. 
Ireland  was  then  noted  for  her  woolen  industry.  She  had  the  finest  sheep- 
raising  pastures  in  Europe,  the  best  wool  and  very  industrious  people.  The 
frieze  is  an  echo  of  what  Ireland  once  was  in  the  woolen  line.  In  the  year 
1660  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland  asked  for  more  repressive  laws  to  pre- 
vent manufacturing,  his  main  reason  being,  as  he  stated,  to  "keep  the  Irish 
in  nakedness  and  beggary."  In  the  year  1660  the  woolen  trade  was  killed  by 
legislation.  Ireland,  however,  had  the  raw  wool  left  and  commenced  to  do 
a  thriving  business.  England,  although  she  needed  the  wool,  decided  to 
abolish  it  by  forbidding  its  exportation.  In  order  to  get  the  wool,  however, 
Irish  sheep  were  permitted  to  be  sent  to  England  to  be  sheared  and  at  the 
same  time  the  price  was  fixed.  This  law  rooted  out  the  raw  wool  industry. 
But  in  order  to  finish  it  completely,  it  was  recommended  that  the  manufacture 
of  wool  should  cease  even  for  home  use.  Therefore,  the  Irish  could  not  make 
the  cloth  to  cover  their  own  bodies.  In  spite  of  the  severity  of  the  law,  how- 
ever, the  industry  was  not  totally  suppressed  until  the  good  and  glorious 
William  of  Orange's  time.  In  the  year  1698,  approved  by  the  Lords  and 
Commons  of  England,  it  was  decided  "To  totally  prohibit  and  suppress  the 
same  under  pain  of  forfeiture  of  goods,  the  ships  that  carried  them,  and  five 
hundred  pounds  fine."  William,  with  thorough  Dutch  ideas,  finished  Ireland 
as  a  manufacturing  nation. 

Ireland  now  turned  to  linen  and  developed  it.  In  the  year  1705  Eng- 
land rooted  out  the  industry  by  passing  laws  prohibiting  its  importation  to 
her  colonies,  and  at  the  same  time  granting  bounties  to  her  own  manufac- 
turers. Catholic  Ireland  was  now  well  plundered  and  the  various  enactments 
against  linen  struck  the  Presbyterians  also,  but  so  determined  was  England 
to  pauperize  Ireland  that  they  were  not  spared,  and  as  the  Lord  Lieutenant 
declared,  "The  result  is  the  ruin  of  Ulster  and  the  flight  of  the  Protestant 
population  to  America." 

The  cattle  trade  was  very  important  to  Ireland.  As  early  as  1665  laws 
were  passed  prohibiting  the  shipment  of  cattle.  Ireland  then  turned  to  the 
shipment  of  dead  meat,  which  was  soon  prohibited.  The  hides  were  left, 
and  Ireland  turned  to  the  development  of  that  branch  of  manufacture.  Even 
that  was  prohibited. 

Ireland  next  turned  to  the  making  of  butter  and  cheese,  which  were  also 
banned,  after  which  times  became  so  terrible  in  Ireland  that  a  man  could 
buy  a  cow  or  a  horse  for  a  dollar.  As  late  as  William  Fourth's  time,  tobacco 
was  crushed  and  legislated  out  of  Ireland  as  far  as  its  growth  was  concerned. 

George  Second  destroyed  the  glass  industry,  and  not  content  with  crush- 
ing it,  England  forbade  the  importation  of  glass  into  Ireland  from  any  coun- 
try except  her  own. 

31 


Blow  after  blow  was  aimed  at  Irish  fisheries.  As  late  as  1819  twenty- 
seven  thousand  boats  employing  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men  were 
engaged  in  this  industry.  Through  various  tricks  of  law,  England  crushed 
it  by  withdrawing  subsidies,  etc.,  until  less  than  twenty  thousand  men  are 
now  engaged  in  this  work.  In  a  word,  England  controls  ninety-eight  per 
cent  of  the  commerce  of  England,  Ireland  and  Scotland,  while  Ireland  con- 
trols only  one-half  per  cent.  And  yet  England  has  covered  her  work  so 
effectually  that  the  world  knows  very  little  about  her  methods.  Froude  in 
his  history  states,  "England  governed  Ireland  for  what  she  deemed  her  own 
interest,  making  her  calculations  on  the  gross  balance  of  her  trade  ledgers 
and  leaving  her  moral  obligations  aside,  as  if  right  and  wrong  had  been  blotted 
out  of  the  statute  books  of  the  universe."  In  the  whole  range  of  history  it 
would  be  impossible  to  find  another  country  that  has  persecuted  a  race  as 
relentlessly  as  England  has  persecuted  Ireland.  You  may  think  of  the  pro- 
gressive laws  that  England  has  passed  in  the  interest  of  Ireland  of  late  years. 
England  has  never  passed  a  law  that  was  not  wrung  from  her  by  the  hardest 
kind  of  fighting. 

POPULATION 

Ireland's  population  was  often  and  repeatedly  swept  away.  As  we 
have  seen,  Ireland  was  in  a  continual  state  of  war  from  1169  to  1691,  and 
every  Englishmen  who  tried  to  extend  his  estates  met  with  fearful  opposition. 
At  the  close  of  each  big  war  the  Irish  were  reduced  lower  and  lower  in  the 
social  scale  until  only  the  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  were  left. 
They  were  killed  off,  banished  or  sold  as  slaves. 

Elizabeth,  in  the  most  cold-blooded  manner,  deliberately  set  about  to 
mop  up  Munster,  and  she  succeeded  so  well  at  the  end  of  an  awful  war  that 
the  people  were  driven  into  houses  which  were  set  on  fire  and  the  people 
burned  to  death,  as  described  by  Paul  DuBoies.  The  tiger  Cromwell,  who 
tore  up  and  rooted  out  two-thirds  of  Ireland's  population  and  sent  the  people 
to  "hell  or  Connaght,"  reduced  the  population  to  a  few,  and  as  he  stated, 
the  glory  of  his  murders  belonged  to  God  alone.  And  with  other  circum- 
stances of  barbarity  he  banished  approximately  100,000  to  the  Barbadoes, 
selling  them  into  slavery  for  life. 

After  each  extermination  the  population  would  begin  to  grow  again,  and 
they  had  once  more  reached  respectable  numbers  in  the  time  of  William  of 
Orange.  Great  numbers  were  killed  in  the  war,  and  it  was  then,  after  a 
long  series  of  oppressive  laws,  that  the  people  scattered  to  the  United  States 
or  France,  until  there  were  only  a  little  more  than  a  million  left  in  all  Ireland. 

Again  they  commenced  to  grow,  and  in  spite  of  evictions  and  all  kinds 
of  odious  laws,  Ireland  had  a  population  of  over  five  millions  in  the  year  1801, 
while  England  in  the  same  year  had  less  than  ten  millions.  In  1846  Ireland 
had  approximately  nine  million  souls,  therefore  in  seventy-five  years  her 

32 


population  has  decreased  over  fifty  per  cent,  while  the  population  of  England, 
Scotland  and  Wales  has  more  than  doubled  itself  in  that  space  of  time.  In- 
stead of  Ireland  outnumbering  Scotland  three  to  one,  Scotland  actually  out- 
numbers Ireland. 

Ireland  is  withering,  decaying  and  falling  to  pieces;  there  is  no  hope 
for  her  prosperity  or  regeneration  under  English  law,  even  though  they  meant 
to  be  honest  with  us.  The  fact  cannot  be  reiterated  too  often  that  there  has 
always  been  an  English  colony  in  Ireland  who  have  been  doing  England's 
work  and  are  still  doing  it.  They  are  the  office-holders  and  have  a  monop- 
oly on  all  positions  of  trust.  They  hate  Ireland  a  thousand  times  more  than 
the  average  Englishman  hates  it.  With  consummate  diplomacy,  England 
calls  upon  the  people  to  get  together  and  unite,  and  through  her  incomparable 
propaganda  she  can  make  the  world  think  that  the  Irish  are  divided,  that 
they  cannot  unite  and  therefore  it  would  be  stupid  to  attempt  to  do  any- 
thing for  them. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  could  Ireland  maintain  herself  as  a  distinct 
nation?  She  did  so  before,  longer  than  any  other  known  country.  Some  say 
that  she  would  be  swallowed  up  by  some  other  hostile  power.  Ireland  is 
three  times  as  large  as  Belgium,  or  nearly  so.  She  is  nearly  three  times  as 
large  as  Holland;  over  twice  as  large  as  Switzerland;  over  twice  as  large  as 
Denmark.     Are  they  swallowed  up? 

In  addition,  Ireland  is  surrounded  by  a  stormy  sea  with  a  distinct  indi- 
viduality, and  above  all,  England's  law  has  been  a  crime  and  a  blunder,  driv- 
ing the  people  away  from  the  country  and  reducing  them  year  by  year  in 
numbers,  through  under-industry  and  over- taxation.  An  English  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer  was  appointed  by  Parliament  in  the  year  1893  for  the 
purpose  of  a  thorough  inquiry  into  Ireland's  claim  that  she  was  overtaxed. 
He  had  a  corps  of  experts  who  went  back  to  the  date  of  the  Union,  and  after 
a  painstaking  study  they  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  Ireland  was  overtaxed 
#13,000,000  a  year.  It  is.no  use  dwelling  on  an  established  fact.  No  matter 
how  we  look  upon  English  rule — from  an  educational,  a  commercial  or  popu- 
lative  standpoint,  we  must  agree  that  it  is  a  scourge.  It  costs  Switzerland 
forty  shillings  a  year  per  head  to  administer  the  laws  of  her  country,  while 
it  costs  Ireland  seventy-five  shillings  per  head  to  be  bound  up  in  slavery. 


33 


CHAPTER  VII 

After  what  Ireland  has  accomplished  for  the  United  States  it  is  discour- 
aging to  think  that  England  through  super-propaganda  work  has  been  able 
to  gain  her  ear  especially  in  trying  to  make  it  appear  that  the  Irish  have  not 
been  true,  that  they  were  pro-German  during  the  war. 

The  Irish  well  knew  that  America's  entry  into  the  war  would  save  England 
and  in  all  probability  strengthen  her  hand  for  more  persecution  of  their  race, 
and  yet  they  were  loyal  under  circumstances  that  would  have  shaken  any 
other  race  on  earth.  This  is  no  theory ;  it  is  absolutely  true.  We  know  that 
America  is  the  daughter  of  Europe.  Some  call  England  the  mother  coun- 
try. The  Germans  and  the  English  are  the  same  race,  and  yet  it  did  not 
save  them  from  assaulting  each  other.  England  crushed  Spain,  Holland, 
France  and  kept  Russia  land  locked  and  prevented  her  from  becoming  a  com- 
mercial rival. 

We  have  had  more  trouble  with  England  than  with  all  Europe  combined. 
Therefore,  we  should  be  very  careful  in  dealing  with  her.  Why  should  Ire- 
land be  allowed  to  remain  the  only  unfree  race  in  Europe  after  the  United 
States  has  said  that  she  went  into  the  war  in  the  interest  of  Democracy  and 
small  nations?  If  this  is  not  so,  our  declaration  of  principles  is  a  farce. 
Washington  in  his  Farewell  Address,  with  prophetic  wisdom  foresaw  two  great 
dangers  to  the  United  States,  and  he  solemnly  warned  the  people  against 
them.  The  first  was  to  beware  of  entangling  alliances,  and  the  second  was 
a  warning  against  Anglomania  or  Francomania. 

Why  should  the  United  States  desert  Ireland  in  this  great  hour  of  world 
achievement?  She  smashed  Spain  to  set  Cuba  free.  What  did  Cuba  ever 
do  in  comparison  with  Ireland?  Poland,  Armenia,  Belgium,  Bohemia,  Czecko 
and  Jugo  Slavia  combined  have  not  done  as  much  for  the  United  States  as 
Ireland  has.  If  it  is  right  for  England  to  crush  Ireland  and  rule  her  against 
her  will,  it  is  right  for  Russia  to  crush  the  Poles,  for  Germany  to  crush  Bel- 
gium, for  Austria  to  crush  the  Czecks.  There  is  no  exception;  if  it  is  right 
for  one,  it  is  right  for  the  other.  Finns,  Poles,  Bohemians,  Serbians,  Bel 
gians,  Albanians,  Armenians,  Slavs,  Jugo  Slavs,  Czecko  Slavs  and  Jews 
are  justly  looking  for  their  freedom.  Ireland  alone  is  the  only  outcast  race. 
England  owns  one-fourth  of  the  globe.  She  knows  that  the  fate  of  nations 
cannot  be  foreseen  with  certainty;  therefore,  to  secure  herself,  a  League  of 
Nations  that  would  protect  her  is  to  her  liking. 

True,  we  had  a  League  of  Nations  before,  called  The  Holy  Alliance,  en- 
tered into  after  the  last  world  war.     England  found  it  to  her  interest  to  break 

34 


it.  There  can  be  no  real  peace  while  one  nation  insists  on  governing  another 
nation  against  its  will.  Ex-President  Taft  called  the  Irish  an  Internal  Prob- 
lem.    The  Revolutionary  war  was  really  more  of  an  internal  question. 

Did  President  Wilson  consider  the  Irish  a  domestic  question  when  he 
said: — 

"We  shall  fight  for  the  things  that  we  have  always  carried  nearest  to  our 
hearts;  for  Democracy — for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small  nations." 

When  the  American  soldiers,  including  at  least  thirty-five  per  cent  Irish, 
were  pouring  forth  their  lives  with  a  bravery  and  a  devotion  never  equalled 
before,  did  our  President  say  we  are  fighting  for  Democracy  and  for  the  free- 
dom of  all  nations  except  Ireland? 

Ireland  is  as  truly  a  nation  as  any  in  Europe.  Has  she  not  struggled 
longer,  sacrificed  more,  and  fought  harder?  She  has  in  fact  suffered  and 
struggled  and  bled  more  than  any  other  race,  and  at  the  last  election  the 
ballot  stood  five  to  one  in  favor  of  Self-determination.  England,  of  course, 
in  order  to  justify  herself,  will  make  it  appear  that  the  Irish  were  false,  pro- 
German,  unfit  for  self-determination,  etc. 

As  a  matter  of  history,  the  Hessians  and  Brandenburghers  did  as  dirty 
a  piece  of  work  in  Ireland  in  the  Williamite  War  and  in  the  Rebellion  of  '98 
as  they  did  in  the  United  States  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

For  the  benefit  of  those  who  accuse  the  Irish  of  being  pro-German,  Gen- 
eral Crowders'  report  informs  us  that  less  Irishmen  claimed  exemption  than 
any  other  race  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  including  the  English. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  an  Article  by  R.  L.,  for  the  "New  States- 
man", London: — 

"Ireland's  record  in  the  war  has  been,  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
Allies,  magnificent.  The  magnificence  of  the  Irish  contribution  to  the  cause 
of  freedom  has  been  only  less  amazing  than  the  flood  of  calumny  and  belittle- 
ment  that  has  been  consistently  poured  on  it  ever  since  August,  1914.  Ire- 
land has  made  a  greater  voluntary  contribution  of  men  to  the  Allied  forces 
than  any  other  unfree  nation  in  the  world.  That  is  the  leading  fact  of  the 
situation.  Sir  Charles  Russell,  speaking  at  a  Red  Cross  Meeting  at  Dublin 
a  few  weeks  ago,  declared  that  Ireland  had  given  250,000  men  to  the  British 
army  and  navy;  and  this  leaves  altogether  out  of  account  the  equally  large 
number  of  Irishmen  who  have  taken  part  in  the  war  in  the  Australian,  Cana- 
dian and  American  armies.  If  these  are  added  in,  we  need  not  hesitate  to 
accept  Mr.  John  Redmond's  estimate  that  500,000  Irishmen  have  fought  in 
the  ranks  of  the  Allies  for  the  liberty  of  the  world.  At  the  same  time,  as 
was  shown  in  the  "New  Statesman"  some  time  ago,  Ireland  has  been  second 
only  to  America  itself  in  the  supplies  of  food  she  has  sent  to  England  during 
the  perilous  years  of  the  war.     Had  it  not  been  for  the  assistance  rendered 

35 


by  Ireland,  both  in  men  and  foodstuffs,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  Allies  would 
yet  have  been  able  to  force  Germany  to  submission.  He  would  be  a  knave  and 
a  fool,  who,  having  accepted  the  services  of  half  a  million  Irish  soldiers  and 
sailors,  would  pretend  that  Ireland  has  not  made  an  immense  and  foreseeable 
contribution  to  the  victory  of  the  Allies,  and  who  would  reward  the  Irish 
dead  with  a  weak  sneer,  about  the  abundance  of  butter  in  Ireland  in  war-time. 


INSURRECTION  OF  1916 

"It  may  be  asked  why,  these  things  being  so,  has  the  average  Englishman 
been  allowed  to  get  the  idea  that  Ireland  has  stood  aside  and  sulked  during 
the  war.  Some  people  think  that  the  insurrection  of  1916  is  chiefly  to  blame. 
Well,  there  were  not  enough  Irishmen  in  the  Dublin  insurrection  of  1916  to 
make  up  even  one  battalion  of  the  Irish  Guards.  One  was  told  at  the  time 
that  the  Dublin  insurgents  numbered  about  a  thousand.  One  has  learned 
since  then  that  they  were  hardly  more  than  six  hundred.  Clearly,  if  Ire- 
land's freedom  is  to  depend  upon  whether  her  services  to  the  Allies  have  out- 
weighed her  dis-services,  she  has  earned  her  freedom  about  a  thousand  times 
over.  For  every  Irishman  who  shouldered  a  rifle  on  the  insurgent  side,  a 
thousand  Irishmen  have  borne  weapons  on  the  side  of  the  Allies.  I  doubt 
if  one  Englishman  in  a  hundred  thousand  realizes  this.  If  they  did,  they 
would  insist  on  seeing  that  their  Irish  Allies  had  a  free  Parliament  restored 
to  them  before  the  Peace  Conference  sits.  Never  was  the  need  of  a  national 
government  proved  more  completely.  Had  Ireland  possessed  a  national 
government  during  the  war,  she  would  have  had  an  organ  for  making  known 
her  services  to  the  civilized  world.  Canada,  Australia  and  South  Africa 
have  but  to  speak  of  what  they  have  done,  and  all  the  world  listens." 

Extract  from  an  Article  appearing  in  the  Boston  Globe  by  Capt.  Thos. 
McMahon  of  the  Irish  Guards:— 

HAS  GIVEN  58.1  PER  CENT. 

"When  the  war  began,  Ireland  sent  into  the  righting  zone  some  15  regi- 
ments distinctively  Irish  from  all  four  provinces.  And  as  the  war  developed 
there  were  the  London  Irish,  Liverpool  Irish,  Tyneside  Irish.  And  in  the 
Scotch,  Welsh  and  English  regiments  were  many  more  Irishmen. 

"Then  there  came  from  overseas  some  regiments  like  the  Vancouver 
Irish  Fusiliers,  the  Quebec  Irish,  a  South  African  Irish  regiment.  And  from 
Australia  came  others,  some  50  per  cent  of  the  men  from  there  being  of  that 
race.     And  we  had  thousands  in  the  navy. 

"We  raised  the  10th,  the  16th  and  the  36th  Irish  Divisions,  and  we  sent 
thousands  across  to  keep  up  the  strength  of  our  units.     Yet  a  few  days  ago 

36 


I  read  in  a  paper  here  that  Ireland  had  contributed  but  10  per  cent  of  soldiers, 
while  Scotland  and  other  places  had  contributed  40  per  cent. 

"Official  figures  available  show  that  up  to  January  last,  Erin  had  con- 
tributed 58.1  per  cent  of  her  available  man  power.  Now  these  figures  mean 
only  the  men  who  were  listed  following  a  military  census.  It  does  not  in- 
clude the  men  who  were  in  the  English  army  and  Navy  when  the  war  broke 
out. 

"Nor  does  it  include  those  Irishmen  working  in  Britain  who  swelled  the 
ranks  of  the  units  across  the  Channel,  men  who  if  at  home  would  have  gone 
into  Irish  regiments. 

IRISHMAN  FIRED  FIRST  SHOT 

"A  trooper  of  the  Irish  Dragoons  fired  the  first  shot  that  opened  the  war 
between  Germany  and  England  when  the  Huns  started  their  big  drive,  and 
the  retreat  from  Mons  was  on.  The  Irish  Guards  broke  up  the  whirling 
charges  of  the  mounted  Uhlans,  The  2d  Royal  Irish  Regiment  was  terribly 
cut  up  stemming  the  tide.  And  the  2d  Connaught  Rangers,  outnumbered 
five  to  one,  at  the  word  of  Colonel  Abercrombie,  made  a  charge  that  scattered 
the  Huns  like  sheep. 

"It  was  the  6th  Leinsters  that  topped  Sari  Bahir,  the  hardest  spot  on 
the  ridge,  from  which  the  Dardanelles  could  be  seen.  And  to  do  this  they 
made  a  charge  quickly  when  New  Zealanders  came  retreating  down  the  hill, 
the  Irishmen  retaking  the  place  in  twenty  minutes. 

"Fight,  fight  and  charge,  was  the  story  all  along  there.  Just  consider 
fighting  two  hours  and  not  advancing  100  feet.  The  Munsters  and  6th 
Dublins  faced  that,  and  then  with  a  final  charge  up  one  side  of  a  hill  the 
Munsters  gained  the  top  and  victory.  And  to  relieve  these  troops  others  had 
to  fight  their  way  up,  the  7th  Dublins  battling  four  hours  one  evening,  ending 
with  a  furious  charge  to  clear  the  way  to  reach  their  comrades. 

"In  the  general  attack  later  on,  when  the  Australians  were  cut  off  from 
water,  the  Connaught  Rangers  earned  the  title  'The  Courting  Dangers'  for 
their  charge  to  capture  the  wells  held  by  the  Turks.  They  poured  across  a 
strip  of  land  that  took  a  terrible  toll,  but  cleaned  up  the  Turks.  And  these 
same  Rangers  a  few  days  later  captured  Hill  60,  one  of  t'he  most  desperate 
engagements  in  the  closing  days  of  the  campaign. 

MORE  FANCIES  THAN  TRUTH 

"What  the  Irish  should  do  is  to  learn  about  what  has  been  done  by  their 
brothers  across  the  ocean ;  their  brethren  who  crossed  the  seas  from  the  Domin- 
ions ;  what  their  brethren  in  the  American  forces  are  doing  now,  so  that  they 
can  break  down  the  barrier  being  raised  against  the  race  through  false  con- 

37 


ceptions  founded  upon  cables  from  abroad,  some  of  which  are  more  fancies 
than  truth. 

"Admittedly,  the  Irish  have  not  been  surpassed  in  fighting  on  any  battle 
front,  and  at  times  they  performed  the  supposedly  impossible,  such  as  the 
Suvla  Bay  landing,  where  Von  Golz,  the  German  genius,  had  constructed  what 
he  and  other  prominent  officers  claimed  was  an  impregnable  position,  a  ver- 
itable death  trap  for  attackers. 

"So  it  is  time  we  said  a  few  things  about  ourselves  instead  of  letting  the 
people  here  get  the  idea  Ireland's  share  of  the  war  is  trying  to  help  Germany." 

The  most  aggravating  part  of  the  whole  Irish  situation  is  to  be  compelled 
to  listen  to  a  country  that  hired  German  troops  against  France,  Ireland  and 
the  United  States  when  it  suited  her  purpose  to  do  so,  and  then  we  are  charged 
with  being  pro-German.  Let  us  not  forget  that  on  many  occasions  England 
charged  us  with  being  pro- American.  Many  of  us  may  not  have  read  of  the 
Irish  prisoners  captured  by  England  in  the  War  of  1812.  Although  they 
wore  the  American  uniform  they  were  considered  traitors  and  thrown  on 
board  a  ship  and  hurried  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  being  executed  as 
traitors.  Fortunately,  the  United  States  had  a  President  with  backbone 
enough  to  retaliate.  Briefly,  the  facts  are  as  follows:  Colonel  Scott,  with 
about  two  hundred  ninety  men,  was  captured  at  Queenstown  Heights.  The 
English  General  Sheafe  began  to  pick  out  the  Irish  prisoners,  being  governed 
by  their  names  and  accent.  Scott,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  yelled  out  to  them 
not  to  answer  another  question,  and  told  Sheafe  that  for  every  Irish  soldier 
executed,  he  would  see  that  an  English  one  suffered  a  like  fate.  The  pris- 
oners were  hurried  to  England.  Scott  was  soon  exchanged.  He  captured 
Fort  George  and  selected  twenty-three  Englishmen  to  be  executed.  Lord 
Bathurst  ordered  forty-six  American  officers  to  be  prepared  for  execution, 
and  President  Madison  ordered  forty-six  Englishmen  to  be  ready  to  die. 
Needless  to  say,  England  weakened,  and  twenty-one  of  the  Irish  prisoners 
returned,  two  dying  from  natural  causes. 

That  Ireland  did  more  for  the  United  States  than  any  other  foreign  coun- 
try we  will  easily  show  by  pointing  out  a  few  of  her  accomplishments. 

Sullivan  struck  the  first  real  blow  on  land  at  Fort  William  and  Mary. 
O'Brien  struck  the  first  blow  on  the  water  at  Machias  Bay,  while  Barry  be- 
came father  of  the  American  Navy.  Wayne,  the  great  infantry  leader, 
Moylan,  the  great  cavalry  leader;  Knox,  the  great  artillery  leader;  Morgan, 
the  great  sharpshooter  leader;  Stark,  the  hero  of  Bennington;  Montgomery, 
the  first  general  who  perished;  Moore,  who  won  the  first  battle,  were  all 
Irish  by  blood  or  by  birth. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  first  signed,  first  copied,  first  read 
to  the  populace  and  first  printed  by  men  of  Irish  blood.  The  richest  man, 
the  man  who  lived  the  longest  after  signing  it,  was  Irish,  while  it  was  an 

38 


Irishman  (Conway)  who  made  the  motion  that  was  carried  in  the  English 
Parliament,  recognizing  America's  independence.  Ireland  helped  the  Ameri- 
can cause  by  sending  out  many  shiploads  of  necessaries;  in  fact,  Franklin 
declared,  "All  Ireland  is  in  favor  of  the  American  cause."  George  Washing- 
ton Parke,  Custis  Washington's  son,  declared,  "Before  the  coming  of  the 
French,  Ireland  furnished  in  the  ratio  of  one  hundred  to  one  of  any  foreign 
nation  whatever."  The  Irish  showed  their  usefulness  in  the  field  of  peace 
also.  The  steamboat,  submarine,  lock  canal,  cotton  mill,  newspapers,  farm- 
ing implements,  the  telegraph  and  steel  were  invented  and  developed  by 
Irishmen  and  their  sons. 

The  two  great  heroes  of  the  War  of  1812  were,  strangely  enough,  con- 
ceived in  Ireland  and  born  in  the  United  States,  Jackson  and  McDonough. 
McDonough's  standing  claim  was,  "My  keel  was  laid  in  Ireland  and  I  was 
launched  in  the  United  States." 

The  Butlers,  of  good  Irish  stock,  developed  five  generals  in  the  same 
family,  one  of  them  having  the  honor  to  command  the  victorious  American 
troops  at  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war. 

In  the  Civil  War,  an  Irishman  (Gibbons)  fired  the  first  shot.  An  Irish- 
man (Shields)  first  defeated  Stonewall  Jackson.  A  Celt  (McClellan)  de- 
feated Lee  at  Antietam.  Sheridan  was  the  only  general  to  turn  disaster  into 
a  brilliant  victory.  The  last  general  to  give  up  his  life  was  the  Irish-born 
Thomas  Smith.  When  Democracy  or  Slavery  hung  in  the  balance  at 
Gettysburg,  Meade,  always  proud  of  his  Irish  blood,  saved  the  Union.  When 
England  was  openly  trying  to  line  up  Europe  against  the  United  States,  the 
wise  Lincoln  sent  the  good  Irish  Archbishop  Hughes  to  Europe  to  counter- 
act the  foul  work.  The  head  of  the  Navy,  Porter,  was  of  Irish  blood,  while 
second  in  command,  Rowan,  was  Irish-born.  One  hundred  seventy-five 
thousand  natives  of  Ireland  served  in  the  Union  armies,  while  men  of  Irish 
extraction  constituted  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  Army,  according  to  the 
most  accurate  approximation.  Irish  loyalty  to  America  was  never  hyphen- 
ated, no  matter  who  the  enemy. 

In  this  war  we  are  just  as  loyal;  we  detest  the  Kaiser  and  every  prin- 
ciple that  he  stood  for.  The  fact  cannot  be  reiterated  too  often  that  between 
the  German  Saxon  and  the  English  Saxon  there  is  no  difference. 

Figures  are  not  yet  available  as  to  the  number  of  Irish  engaged  in  the 
war.  In  addition  to  the  men  from  Ireland,  large  numbers  enlisted  in  Eng- 
land, Scotland  and  Wales,  Canada,  Australia,  South  Africa,  New  Zealand, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  United  States.  John  Redmond  and  Michael  McDon- 
ough estimated  them  at  half  a  million  in  1916.  Of  the  United  States  army 
at  least  thirty-five  per  cent  had  Irish  blood  in  their  veins. 

By  way  of  illustration  we  will  quote  figures  taken  from  the  records  of  the 
city  of  Waltham,  Massachusetts,  as  follows: 

39 


Nationalities  Represented  on  Service  Roster 

Armenians  2 

French  145 

Greek  5 

Hebrew  22 

German  27 

Italian  72 

Irish  695 

Swedes  62 

It  will  be  some  time  before  we  can  fully  digest  the  work  of  the  various 
nationalities  engaged  in  the  war.  It  is  no  exaggeration,  however,  to  claim 
that  the  Irish  stand  now,  as  they  have  always  stood,  at  the  head  of  the  list 
in  valor  as  well  as  numbers. 

And  now  the  whole  world  has  been  scourged  by  the  greatest  war  of  his- 
tory, involving  all  creeds,  races  and  colors — white,  black,  yellow,  red  and 
brown — Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  America  and  Australia — Christian,  Moslem, 
Pagan,  Jew,  Shinto,  Confucian  and  Hindu — have  added  their  portion  to 
the  deluge  of  blood  that  has  reddened  the  world.  Old  nations,  great  em- 
pires, firmly  imbedded  oligarchies  are  crumbling  into  dust.  Czars,  Em- 
perors, Kaisers,  Sultans,  Kings  and  Princes  are  swept  away  like  autumn 
leaves.  In  this  awful  cataclysm  the  oppressed  nations  of  the  earth  are  shed- 
ding their  century-bound  chains  of  slavery.  The  map  of  the  world  is  being 
remade.  America,  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave,  has  startled 
the  whole  world  by  proclaiming  in  the  majesty  of  her  might,  "We  shall  fight 
for  democracy,  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small  nations." 

From  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun,  no  other  race  and  no  other 
nation  has  fought  as  long  or  as  hard  as  Ireland  has  for  her  freedom.  She  has 
suffered  more  and  retained  her  ideals  longer  than  any  other  race,  and  in  this 
hour  of  great  events  is  it  too  much  to  expect,  too  much  to  hope  that  the  day 
dawn  of  her  freedom  is  nigh?  Every  indication  points  to  the  fact  that  Eng- 
land will  once  more  use  her  old  argument,  the  bayonet  and  bullet.  In  that 
event,  the  Irish  in  the  United  States  must  steel  themselves  to  humble  Eng- 
land's power,  which  they  will  do  if  that  country  ignores  Irish  claims.  The 
Irish  in  the  United  States  must  give  a  fair  and  unanimous  warning  that  they 
can  favor  no  treaty  that  will  bind  our  race  hand  and  foot,  making  them  the 
outcasts  of  the  earth.  We  are  Americans  first,  last  and  all  the  time,  but 
we  abhor  now,  always  did,  and  forever  will,  any  law,  league  or  treaty  that 
would  make  us  British  Americans.  Our  immediate  mission  should  be  to 
organize  solidly,  cohere  and  bring  forth  the  fighting  spirit  of  our  race  for  the 
purpose  of  warding  off  the  blow  that  is  aimed  at  our  heads,  hearts  and  prin- 
ciples. 

40 


Men  who  have  in  the  past,  because  of  lack  of  interest,  pressure  of  busi- 
ness or  a  disregard  for  England's  methods,  held  aloof  from  organizing  should 
at  once  become  active.  The  business  and  professional  men  must  add  their 
weight,  experience  and  sound  practical  knowledge  to  the  movement.  We 
must  organize  in  a  permanent  manner,  create  enthusiasm,  watch  our  enemies, 
prepare  for  propaganda  assaults,  and  be  prepared  through  the  pulpit,  the  press 
and  every  legitimate  agency  at  our  command  to  rub  England  up  instead  of 
down.  If  we  show  the  right  spirit,  and  mean  what  we  say,  we  can  build  up 
a  strong  and  lasting  public  opinion  that  will  make  England's  influence  doubt- 
ful or  negative.  Through  a  system  of  public  meetings,  pamphlets,  and  the 
right  kind  of  well  directed  enthusiasm,  we  can  educate  the  American  people 
to  the  justice  of  our  cause. 

To-day  we  are  the  only  liberty  loving  race  of  slaves  on  earth.  The 
Irish  in  the  United  States  must  remove  the  stigma  and  they  can  do  so  only 
by  a  carefully  planned,  thoroughly  organized,  well  equipped  and  absolutely 
unselfish  society  that  will  direct  the  many  and  important  functions  necessary 
to  combat  the  forces  that  we  know  are  arrayed  against  us. 


41 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Propaganda 

Without  doubt,  England's  greatest  victory  was  in  gaining  the  ear  of  the 
world.  Her  propaganda  has  saved  her  on  many  occasions.  At  the  outset 
we  should  know  that  when  England  desires  to  do  a  piece  of  work  she  does 
it;  when  she  has  an  end  to  gain,  she  can  use  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
people  to  gain  it. 

We  should  consider  this  point  very  carefully.  The  Printing  Press  and 
the  Reformation  were  contemporaneous.  Henry  Eighth  promptly  saw  the 
power  of  the  press  and  used  it  to  further  his  aims,  and  of  course  he  had  to 
condemn  the  old  order  of  things.  In  a  word,  the  English  press  was  founded 
on  bigotry  and  perpetuated  by  deceit. 

Ireland  remained  true  to  the  old  faith,  therefore  we  can  readily  under- 
stand how  easily  and  naturally  it  came  to  England  to  follow  a  well-thought- 
out  plan  of  propaganda  abuse.  She  has  been  able,  and  has  in  the  most  com- 
prehensive and  consummate  manner,  through  her  propaganda  works  (hav- 
ing every  possible  agency  of  publicity  at  her  command)  assailed  the  Irish 
race  with  a  persistency  and  a  rancor  unknown  to  any  other  people  on  earth. 
Into  every  walk  of  life,  business,  religious  and  professional,  she  has  carried 
her  underhanded,  and  sometimes  open,  work.  Any  person  of  literary  talents 
or  fame  may  be  employed  and  pensioned  by  England. 

To  illustrate,  we  will  briefly  refer  to  a  few  of  England's  leading  histor- 
ians and  literary  men  who  devoted  their  time  and  talents  to  making  the  Irish 
character  appear  the  vilest  and  lowest  on  earth.  The  Irish  were  referred  to 
as  cowards,  drunkards,  moral  degenerates,  immoral,  base,  low,  sanguinary 
murderers,  licentious,  incestous  wretches.  In  fact,  there  is  not  a  crime  known 
to  man  that  we  are  not  charged  with  as  a  race,  not  by  the  so-called  sub-cellar 
writers,  but  by  men  whose  fame  is  world-wide.  Who  would  suspect  Spencer, 
Milton,  Macaulay,  Gibbon,  Hume,  Froude,  Mahaffy,  Orpen,  Carlyle,  Arnold, 
Story,  Chart,  Carte,  Falkiner,  Bagwell,  Fletcher,  Kipling,  Bryce  and  Defoe 
of  having  engaged  in  such  foul  propaganda  work,  to  say  nothing  of  many 
others  with  lesser  reputations?  Their  object  is  to  cover  every  field,  leave 
nothing  undone,  nothing  to  chance — the  Irish  must  be  made  to  appear  the 
scum  of  the  earth. 

It  was  the  writer's  intention  to  cite  a  brief  extract  from  each  of  the  fore- 
going authors,  but  space  will  not  permit.  We  must  therefore  content  ourselves 
with  making  a  general  charge  against  every  one  of  them,  as  they  have  delib- 
erately and  with  vicious  intent  insulted  us  and  slandered  our  race  or  faith. 

42 


Their  works  are  what  we  might  call  propaganda  proper,  of  which  the  world 
knows  so  little,  especially  the  main  object  that  England  aims  at. 

First  of  all,  England  has  easily  shaped  the  literary  policy  of  the  English- 
speaking  world.  We  may  not  like  this,  but  there  is  absolutely  no  doubt  about 
it,  which  we  will  fairly  prove,  by  calling  attention  to  a  fact  that  may  not  at 
first  seem  of  prime  importance,  yet  it  well  illustrates  why  England  has  made 
the  world  listen  to  her.  I  have  before  me  a  "History  for  Ready  Reference 
and  Topical  Reading,"  extending,  as  the  author,  J.  N.  Learned,  states,  "to 
all  countries  and  subjects,  from  the  best  historians,  biographers  and  spec- 
ialists," The  work  consists  of  six  volumes  covering  nearly  5000  pages,  and  is 
composed  of  extracts  from  the  best  writers  as  the  author  thought.  At  the 
end  of  the  fifth  volume,  a  list  of  the  authors'  names  is  given,  consisting  of  some 
2500  books,  and  of  this  great  number,  England  has  supplied  about  1750.  An 
American  history  of  the  world  for  American  schools  is  stuffed  with  nearly 
seventy-five  per  cent  English  ideas.  In  other  words,  England  has  supplied 
more  books  for  a  world's  history  than  all  the  rest  of  the  world  combined. 
This  is  not  fiction:   it  is  a  fact.     We  refer  you  to  it — look  it  up. 

England  has  been  able  to  stuff  the  libraries  of  the  world,  and  until  Ire- 
land can  do  likewise,  she  will  never  be  able  to  meet  England.  Talk  is  cheap, 
but  books  count. 

This  may  appear  a  mere  incident  to  many.  It  proves,  however,  that  our 
literature  is  born  in  England  and  that  it  is  crowded  with  assaults  on  Irish 
and  Catholics.  Under  the  English  Colonial  Laws,  if  we  look  over  the  stat- 
ute books  of  the  time,  we  will  find  how  deeply  rooted  and  firmly  imbedded 
their  hatred  of  us  was.  We  are  referred  to  as  "Sons  of  Satan,"  "Malignant 
Irish,"  granting  toleration  to  all  sects  "except  Catholics."  The  observance 
of  Christmas  was  declared  "superstitious"  and  the  observers  were  fined. 
These  laws  forbade  Irish  or  Catholics  to  come  here.  The  very  colony  that 
the  Catholics  settled,  Maryland,  deprived  them  of  the  right  to  vote.  The 
Cross  was  cut  out  of  the  Puritan  flag  as  early  as  1634,  while  John  Adams 
called  Holy  Communion  "sanctified  effluvia."  Jefferson  hammered  the 
Catholic  Church  even  on  his  death  bed,  and  Benedict  Arnold  gave  as  an 
excuse  for  his  treason  that  the  Catholics  would  have  too  much  power.  C.  W. 
Eliot  tells  us  that  the  English  Colonists  cut  the  ears  off  the  Quakers,  plunged 
red  hot  irons  through  their  tongues,  to  say  nothing  about  executing  them. 

As  late  as  the  year  1800  Father  Cheverus,  afterwards  Cardinal,  was  ar- 
rested for  marrying  a  couple  in  Maine.  Through  every  line  of  Colonial 
law,  enactments  were  passed  against  Catholics.  A  few  days  ago  I  picked 
up  an  old  geography,  dated  1828,  by  J.  Olney.  It  had  a  few  words  to  say 
about  the  characters  of  the  various  races: 

"The  Welsh — Honest,  brave  and  hospitable." 

The  Scotch — 'Temperate,  industrious,  hardy  and  are  distinguished  for 
education  and  morality. 

43 


The  English — Intelligent,  brave,  industrious  and  enterprising,  but  pos- 
sessed of  great  national  pride. 

The  Irish — "Quick  of  apprehension,  brave,  active,  hospitable,  but  pas- 
sionate, ignorant,  vain  and  superstitious." 

Webster  defines  Jesuit  in  part  as  "A  crafty  person,  an  intriguer." 

Parkman,  the  great  writer,  defines  the  Jesuit  constitution  or  rules  as 
"superstitious  rubbish."  Wallis,  in  Ben  Hur,  refers  to  the  Irish,  when  describ- 
ing the  galley  slave  as  "red-headed  savages."  "Ten  Nights  in  a  Barroom" 
insults  the  Irish  on  nearly  every  page.  Even  the  child  story,  "Robinson 
Crusoe,"  written  by  a  bigoted  English  minister  of  the  gospel,  insults  the 
Catholics. 

Josiah  Flint,  a  college  graduate,  put  forth  a  book  in  the  year  1907, 
"Tramping  with  Tramps."  It  is  very  interesting — treats  the  tramps  of  many 
countries  and  refers  to  them  as  follows:  "In  this  country  the  main  offenders 
are  generally  of  Irish  American  parentage.  More  criminals  trace  their  an- 
cestry back  to  that  country  (Ireland)  than  any  other  where  English  is  spoken . 
Indeed,  in  America  it  is  considered  something  out  of  the  ordinary  if  the  crim- 
inal cannot  attach  himself  to  the  Emerald  Isle." 

Not  content  with  her  open  method,  England  has  employed  a  class  of 
anonymous  writers  whose  works  are  so  horrible  that  to  mention  them  would 
make  us  blush  with  shame.  We  will  call  attention  to  one  filthy  work  which 
occupied  space  in  the  Boston  Public  Library  for  twenty-five  years,  Shelf  No. 
3469  A  40.  The  name  of  the  book  is,  or  rather  was,  "The  Past,  Present  and 
Future  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Irish  of  New  England,"  by  Uncle  Sam,  Jr. 
Throughout  the  book  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics  are  pictured  without  a  re- 
deeming trait.  Every  crime  and  every  depravity  is  charged  up  against  them. 
The  burning  of  the  Ursuline  Convent  is  justified  and  gloried  in.  General 
Sheridan  is  described  as  "a  drunken  bummer,  away  from  his  post  of  duty." 
Ninety  per  cent  of  all  our  paupers,  thieves,  murderers,  are  charged  with  being 
Irish.  They  are  called  the  scum  of  the  earth,  bounty  jumpers,  deserters. 
He  refers  to  as  Irish,  ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  depraved  women,  and  also 
speaks  of  the  Irish  priest  with  the  shape  of  a  man  and  the  look  of  -a  beast. 
He  charges  the  Irish  with  attempting  to  murder  Washington,  the  Catholics 
with  murdering  Lincoln  and  Garfield,  and  finally  he  contends  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  Irish  originated  from  a  wolf  and  an  ape. 

It  is  with  sorrow  and  shame  that  we  refer  to  this  type,  but  it  is  abroad 
and  covers  a  certain  field.  It  would  be  stupid  to  close  our  eyes  to  a  painful 
fact,  and  the  fact  is  that  we  have  in  every  community  agents  who  picture  us 
as  the  vilest  creatures  on  earth. 

I  remember  reading  about  an  Irish  military  force  employed  on  the  Con- 
tinent. Of  course,  they  were  not  brave  or  manly  enough  to  carry  a  gun,  but 
were  occupied  in  cutting  the  throats  of  the  helpless  wounded  soldiers. 

44 


As  we  have  shown,  the  population  of  Ireland  has  been  swept  away  be- 
cause England  has  closed  down  her  industries  and  legislated  them  out  of  ex- 
istence. As  a  rule,  one  member  of  the  family  only  remains  at  home,  the 
others  are  scattered  into  the  United  States,  Canada,  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
South  Africa,  England,  Scotland  and  Wales.  Whenever  England  is  engaged 
in  war,  many  Irishmen,  as  a  rule,  rush  into  the  opposing  armies.  Why  have 
they  not  rushed  into  the  German  army?  You  may  think  that  they  had  no 
opportunity.  They  had  many  opportunities.  To  be  more  to  the  point,  we 
will  cite  a  case  from  Michael  McDonough,  author  of  "The  Irish  at  the  Front" 
and  "The  Irish  at  the  Somme."  The  Munster  Division  held  a  section  of  the 
British  line  about  Loos,  April,  1916.  They  carried  a  large  green  banner  which 
attracted  the  Germans'  attention,  and  the  Irishmen  were  startled  one  morn- 
ing to  see  two  large  placards  nailed  to  boards  and  fastened  to  poles,  upon 
which  the  following  was  written  in  plain  English: 

"Irishmen,  in  Ireland's  revolution,  English  guns  are  firing  on 
your  wives  and  children.  The  English  military  bill  has  been  refused ; 
Sir  Roger  Casement  is  being  persecuted.  Throw  away  your  arms; 
we  give  you  a  hearty  welcome.  We  are  Saxons.  If  you  don't  fire, 
we  won't." 

At  that  particular  period  of  the  war,  things  looked  good  for  Germany.  We 
cannot  describe  the  sentiments  that  actuated  the  Irish  at  that  moment. 
They  knew  England  and  despised  her,  yet  they  knew  that  they  were  fighting 
an  autocracy  just  as  brutal.  This  was  their  answer.  On  that  very  night 
they  crawled  out  of  their  positions  and  went  over  the  top.  Upon  arriving  at 
No  Man's  Land,  the  Germans  opened  fire  on  them  and  many  were  killed 
and  wounded.  They  then  lay  down  as  though  dead,  and  after  some  time 
they  crawled  forward  as  noiselessly  as  possible.  In  the  words  of  McDonough, 
"They  sprang  with  fixed  bayonets  and  terrifying  yells  into  the  trench.  The 
Germans,  startled  out  of 'their  senses  by  this  most  unexpected  visit,  scurried 
like  rabbits  into  the  nearest  dugouts.  The  notice  boards  were  then  seized 
and  borne  in  triumph  to  the  Irish  trenches,  and  they  are  now  treasures  among 
the  regiment's  most  precious  spoils  of  vanquished  enemies."  .  .  .  "Up  to  the 
end  of  1916  the  number,  taking  the  Irishmen  in  English  and  Scottish  regiments 
and  in  the  forces  of  the  different  Dominions,  is  altogether  about  500,000.'' 
To  read  "The  Irish  at  the  Front"  and  "The  Irish  at  the  Somme,"  as  well  as 
other  fields  of  carnage,  is  to  better  appreciate  what  they  did. 

General  Marshal,  an  Englishman,  stated,  "They  are  the  cream  of  the 
army,"  and  General  Sir  Bryan  Mahon  said,  "No  men  could  have  fought 
more  gallantly  or  achieved  better  results." 


The  two  best  known  cases  of  propaganda  work  in  the  United  States 
were  those  instituted  to  ruin  Justice  Cohalan  and  Jeremiah  O'Leary.     We 

45 


will  say  a  few  words  about  both.  Justice  Cohalan  despises  England  in  pro- 
portion to  his  knowledge  of  her  crimes.  He  has  read  the  story  of  Ireland's 
wrongs  as  few  men  have;  he  sympathises  with  Ireland's  sufferings,  and  who 
can  follow  the  story  of  her  ruin,  degradation  and  extermination  without 
being  moved,  if  his  blood  is  any  thicker  than  skimmed  milk?  The  author  of 
this  pamphlet  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Justice  Cohalan  preside  at  two 
meetings.  He  is  one  of  the  finest  characters  imaginable.  Mild  and  agree- 
able, he  is  possessed  of  a  charm  of  manner  and  a  peculiar  magnetism  that  at 
once  give  a  person  implicit  confidence  in  his  sincerity.  Sometimes  one  would 
think  by  his  far-away  look  that  he  was  more  of  a  dreamer  than  a  man  of 
action,  yet  he  is  the  very  soul  of  action.  He  can  control  a  convention,  keep 
in  touch  with  a  number  of  committees,  and  in  fact,  with  the  greatest  ease  he 
can  get  a  convention  to  do  as  much  work  in  three  days  as  another  man  could 
in  a  week.  He  does  not  love  England  and  has  a  powerful  attachment  for 
Ireland.  He  was  therefore  considered  big  enough  to  discredit  the  Irish  race 
if  the  Piggotts  succeeded  in  bolstering  up  a  case  against  him.  A  campaign 
of  slander  was  waged  against  him.  The  average  citizen  can  tell  you  about 
the  charges ;  how  few  there  are,  however,  who  can  tell  about  the  outcome  of 
the  case.  Let  us  for  the  present  draw  a  veil  over  the  Grand  Opera  House 
affair.  It  succeeded  in  bringing  out  one  point  very  strongly — that  Justice 
Cohalan  can  think  quickly  and  think  correctly.  Suddenly  confronted  with 
a  problem  fraught  with  tremendous  possibilities  for  good  or  evil,  and  having 
only  a  few  moments  to  decide,  he  at  once  sacrificed  himself  for  the  good  of  the 
cause,  and  in  doing  so,  he  has  lifted  himself  up  as  a  man  to  be  trusted  in  any 
emergency.  We  know  that  the  people  of  the  great  state  of  New  York,  and 
in  fact,  of  the  whole  United  States,  have  unanimously  agreed  that  he  is  the 
man  of  the  hour. 

JEREMIAH  O'LEARY 

Like  Cohalan,  a  conviction  in  his  case  would  place  the  Irish  in  a  doubtful 
position.  He  was  represented  as  being  rich;  his  pockets  were  well  lined  with 
German  money,  etc.  England,  for  the  first  time,  had  the  opportunity  of 
working  openly.  She  had  perfect  liberty  to  swing  her  very  powerful  and 
unscrupulous  propaganda  club.  The  Irish  themselves  are  a  great  deal  to 
blame.  Blind  to  England's  methods,  knowing  nothing  and  caring  less  about 
her  wiles,  conscious  that  they  were  right  and  thinking  themselves  secure  in 
the  affections  of  America,  they  despised  the  falsehoods,  as  unworthy  of  refu- 
tation, and  expecting  that  America  would  not  believe  the  charge,  they  drifted 
along,  little  thinking  of  the  damage,  the  Smiths,  Balfours,  Northcliffes,  Ian 
Hays  and  Plunketts  could  do,  and  their  friends  the  Tafts,  and  others  of  the 
same  tendencies.  Irishmen  and  men  of  Irish  extraction  or  sympathies  should 
learn  this  lesson  well.  When  England  desires  to  ruin  any  man  or  country 
she  is  generally  able  to  do  so  in  the  long  run.     Let  no  man  lull  himself  into 

46 


the  silly  theory  that  England  is  a  decaying  or  a  decayed  nation,  either  in 
war,  peace,  commerce  or  propaganda.  You  may  think  that  she  had  her  back 
against  the  wall,  crying  for  help,  and  that  if  it  were  not  for  the  United  States, 
she  would  have  been  crushed.  England  was  often  in  the  same  predicament, 
yet  she  always  got  out  of  it.  Take  for  instance,  England's  power  before  the 
League  of  Nations.  The  four  leading  nations  presented  constitutions,  and 
whose  was  accepted?  England's!  This  is  painful,  but  true.  England  has 
some  strange  power  that  shapes  public  opinion.  She  was  engaged  in  what  we 
might  call  four  world's  wars.  The  elements  and  treachery  saved  her  in  one 
war;  French  Huguenots  in  another;  the  Germans  in  another,  and  the  United 
States  in  the  present  one.  England  crushed  democracy,  propped  up  the 
autocratic  Bourbons  in  power,  turned  the  clock  of  progress  back,  went  into 
a  League  of  Nations  called  the  Holy  Alliance  and  was  the  first  to  break  away 
from  it.  At  the  same  time  she  has  made  the  world  believe  that  she  was  fight- 
ing for  freedom  and  democracy.  In  turn,  she  has  crushed  the  commerce  of 
Spain,  Holland,  France  and  Germany,  and  for  generations  she  has  kept  Russia 
a  land-locked  Empire.  Her  kleptic  fingers  have  gripped  one-fourth  of  the 
globe.  No  matter  what  England  does,  whether  it  is  turning  the  merciless 
savages  loose  on  this  country,  burning  our  Capitol,  or  keeping  Turkey  propped 
up  in  Europe,  she  has  the  strange  power  of  making  the  world  think  that  she 
is  right. 

Let  no  man  underrate  England.  She  has  been  at  all  times  able  to  get 
enough  of  people  to  do  her  bidding.  Nor  do  we  see  any  sign  that  her  propa- 
ganda proficiency  is  nearing  the  end.  She  is  going  to  silence  the  Irish  in  the 
United  States  if  it  lies  in  her  power  to  do  so.  History  repeats  itself.  Do 
you  suppose  that  if  England  saw  in  the  United  States  her  only  dangerous 
rival,  she  would  not  try  to  ruin  this  country?  Germany  often  saved  Eng- 
land. The  English  people  are  Saxons  mainly,  and  English  kings  are  as  Ger- 
man as  the  Kaiser,  even  though  the  present  one  changed  his  name,  and  yet 
England  did  not  scruple  to  remove  Germany. 

Space  will  not  permit  even  a  synopsis  of  Jerry  O'Leary's  trial.  It  was 
one  of  the  most  brutal  trials  ever  held  in  America.  The  cables  between 
London  and  New  York  were  kept  hot,  hints  at  great  disclosures  of  Irish  plots 
as  well  as  German  plots  were  widely  circulated.  O'Leary  was  kept  in  jail 
for  nine  months,  every  one  belonging  to  him  was  arrested  or  ruined,  his  house 
was  sold,  his  family  scattered,  his  four  children  going  to  different  homes. 
He  was  stricken  with  influenza  and  carried  to  Bellevue  Hospital.  Talk  of 
armistice  frightened  the  propagandists  and  although  his  life  hung  in  the 
balance,  it  would  be,  in  order  to  secure  a  conviction,  necessary  to  try  him 
while  the  war  passion  was  high.  He  was  dragged  before  the  court,  suffered 
a  relapse  and  hovered  between  life  and  death  for  a  long  time.  The  story  of 
the  trial  appeared  in  the  Gaelic  American.  The  whole  proceedings  would 
remind  one  of  the  Irish  state  trials.     A  packed  jury,  fortunately  for  O'Leary, 

47 


was  lacking.  We  will  mention  'one  phase  of  the  trial.  A  Government  ei 
ployee  by  the  name  of  Martin  posed  as  a  sailor.  He  was  well  and  thorough 
coached  and  was  used  for  the  rebuttal  evidence.  It  was  very  importa 
that  O'Leary  in  some  way  should  be  an  accomplice  of  Roediger,  and 
O'Leary  swore  that  he  never  saw  or  spoke  to  the  man,  Martin  was  requi 
tioned  into  service,  but  fortunately  he  was  a  transparent  liar  and  became 
badly  tangled  up  in  his  cobweb  of  falsehood  that  he  nearly  fainted.  He  w 
very  unfortunate  in  picking  out  the  places  where  he  swore  he  had  seen  O'Lea 
talking  to  Roediger.  He  could  explain  nothing.  At  this  point,  Osborne, 
confuse  O'Leary,  cried  out  that  he  had  six  more  witnesses  to  prove  the  charf 
O'Leary  retorted,  "Bring  forth  six  more  perjurers."  The  whole  trial  was 
farce  from  beginning  to  end.  The  Gaelic  American  declared,  in  commenti 
on  it,  "James  W.  Osborne,  Jr.,  and  H.  Snowden  Marshall  should  now  blu 
to  ask  an  American  jury  to  convict  even  a  dog  upon  such  corruption,  op 
perjury,  bribery  and  persecution."  Fortunately  for  the  Irish  race,  the  c£ 
fell  through,  and  yet  the  propagandist  would  have  us  think  that  there  w 
a  great  Irish  pro-German  conspiracy  in  the  United  States. 

There  is  not  a  race  of  people  in  the  United  States  so  intensely  Americ 
as  the  Irish.  We  are  here  by  birth  and  blood  to  the  number  of  twenty  rr 
lions — some  say  thirty.  We  are  multiplying  rapidly;  it  is  our  home  and 
must  defend  it  against  all  comers,  especially  the  English.  They  have  giv 
this  country  more  trouble  than  all  Europe  combined.  History  repeats  its< 
England  may  do  the  same  again.     We  must  be  on  our  guard. 

Irishmen,  if  you  consider  this  picture  uncamouflaged,  now  is  your  m< 
opportune  time  to  repudiate  it. 


Lally  insignia 
48 


DATE  DUE 


NOU-3'61 


mr 


4991 


GAYLORD 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


31   021   39641    1 


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J. 


-Lsh  history 


~ary 

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